September 6, 2018

The Kumejima (Kume Island) Town government in Okinawa Prefecture on September 5 announced that a U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing at a civil airport on the island.

According to the town government, at 3:45 p.m. on the day, a U.S. military aircraft, probably a UH-1 “Huey” multi-role military helicopter stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, made a forced landing at Kumejima Airport. The aircraft reportedly made the emergency landing after detecting an abnormality during flight drills held on Torishima island located about 30 kilometers north of Kumejima.

Another forced landing incident involving a CH-53 military helicopter deployed at the Futenma base occurred in June 2017 at the same airport.

Past related articles:
> 3 US Ospreys make emergency landings within one day [August 15 and 17, 2018]
> 2 US military copters make emergency landing at public airport [April 19, 2018]