And that is precisely why there will be a court case to determine whether Mr. Armstrong took off in the knowledge that he would probably have to fly the helicopter at some point in the rescue.
It doesn't really matter that the rescue was successful, it was that someone allowed themselves to become involved in the knowledge that they might have to undertake an activity from which they were currently banned.
If something is proscribed by law, then it is up to the courts to determine whether any breech that occured is reasonable taking into account all of the circumstances. If the rescue had been unsuccessful or the helicopter had crashed, there could have been two sets of casualties stranded in a remote location in urgent need of medical assistance.
The offence is not flying with a suspended licence, it is flying in defiance of a ban (for whatever reason) imposed by the authorities. They don't like that!