Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 18 - 24 [US FORCES]

Naha City Assembly protests repeated accidental drops of US aircraft equipment

The Naha City Assembly in Okinawa unanimously adopted a resolution on March 20 in protest against a string of accidental drops of various parts by U.S. military aircraft.

The resolution was proposed by a group of Japanese Communist Party assemblypersons.

In Okinawa, the U.S. Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey accidentally dropped an aluminum component during a flight on March 12. Five days later, an electronic surveillance plane from the U.S. Kadena Air Base dropped a fiberglass panel weighing almost one kilogram. Japan’s Defense Ministry’s local bureau said that these accidents have not caused damage or injury so far.

The adopted statement notes that these accidents may have led to a fatal catastrophe as U.S. aircraft are daily flying over residential areas. It urges the U.S. Forces in Okinawa to refrain from conducting flight training drills until the military determines the causes of the accidents and implements really effective preventive measures.

The JCP assembly members’ group leader Furugen Shigeharu said, “It is unacceptable that six different types of U.S. warplanes brought about such accidental drops in the past three months alone.” He denounced the U.S. Forces for placing priority on military training rather than on the lives and safety of local residents.


Past related article:
> Osprey again drops a part by accident [March 17, 2015]