Japan Calls for Thorough U.S. Military Aircraft Maintenance

Tokyo, March 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Defense Ministry has called on the United States to conduct thorough maintenance work for its military aircraft, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Monday. The request followed a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter’s emergency landing at a baseball field in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Friday. Japan is determined to “keep asking for full safety management” by U.S. Forces Japan, Kihara told a press conference in Tokyo. The same day, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki told reporters at the southernmost prefectural government’s head office in Naha that he was going to demand the U.S. military, as well as the Japanese Foreign and Defense Ministries, investigate into the incident and take preventive measures. The U.S. military and other sources said the Marines’ UH-1 helicopter made the unscheduled landing at the ball field around 8:20 p.m. Friday during a regular exercise as an on-board alarm was activated, and it took off there around 10:40 p.m. that day to fly back to the Futenma air base in another Okinawa city of Ginowan. Local residents said a youth baseball team was practicing at the field when the aircraft was descending. “Any situations that pose danger on children must be averted,” Denny noted. He also lodged a protest against the emergency landing with the Okinawa Defense Bureau. “One misstep could have caused a catastrophe,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]