March 28, 2026

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on March 27, strongly protesting to the Japanese and U.S. governments regarding the March 6 emergency landing of a U.S. military UH-1 helicopter on a baseball field located in Okinawa’s Nago City.

The Assembly stated, “A single mistake could have resulted in serious human casualties,” and demanded that the cause of the emergency landing be made public promptly, that related information be provided immediately, and that thorough measures be taken to prevent a recurrence and to ensure safety.

The resolution argues that repeated accidents and emergency landings involving U.S. military aircraft are due to the fact that low-altitude flight training exercises over residential areas, which domestic aviation regulations prohibit, are routinely conducted as an allowable exception under the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The resolution calls for a ban on U.S. military flight training over residential areas as well as a fundamental revision of the SOFA.

Past related article:
> US military chopper makes emergency landing on baseball field in Okinawa while children are practicing [March 10, 2026]