Springer

"Springer: Twice the Life"

Springer was a Triple Changer back in the day, turning into both a helicopter and a strikingly helicopter-like "armored car." More recently, two new toys have been made of him, one that only turns into a helicopter and one that only turns into an armored car. Which I've decided must mean: transporter accident!

Which was a perfect opportunity to reference some oldschool Transformers lore.... can anybody tell what event the title, background characters, and some environmental elements are all pointing to? One person in the comments already got the core answer, but nobody has spelled out how all the clues work yet.

(Side note for the terminally geeky: Springer's helicopter-only toy was actually meant to represent his form in the War Within comic, set in Cybertron's ancient past. But the toy is very much an Earth-style helicopter, and it barely matches the way he was drawn anyway, so I figured it was fair game for reinterpretation.)