Helicopters - US Marines with problems on Okinawa - Stars and Stripes

Mattis apologizes to Japan over string of aircraft mishaps on Okinawa

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Marines with Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 466 prepare to lift a UH-1Y Venom after it made a precautionary landing in Okinawa, Japan, Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.

CALEB MAHER/U.S. MARINE CORPS

 

By MATTHEW M. BURKE AND HANA KUSUMOTO | STARS AND STRIPESPublished: January 10, 2018

CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa — The United States has apologized to the Japanese government for a recent rash of military aviation mishaps that have sparked fear and anger on the southern island prefecture of Okinawa.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis delivered the apology over the phone Tuesday to his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said Wednesday.

Mattis provided details on recent emergency landings by two Okinawa-based Marine Corps aircraft — a AH-1Z Viper helicopter on Monday and a UH-1Y Venom Saturday — and vowed to address the “important” issue of aircraft safety.

During their call, Onodera reportedly asked Mattis — a retired Marine four-star general — to take additional measures to prevent future mishaps.

Onodera told reporters the Defense Ministry has requested that U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Jerry Martinez conduct safety checks and maintenance on all U.S. military aircraft in Japan.

A spate of U.S. military aircraft mishaps on or around the southern Japanese island prefecture have led to heightened safety concerns among Okinawans.

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Marines with Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 466 lift a UH-1Y Venom after it made a precautionary landing in Okinawa, Japan, Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.
CALEB MAHER/U.S. MARINE CORPS

On Dec. 13, a CH-53E Super Stallion’s window inexplicably became separated from the aircraft and landed on an elementary school sports field adjacent to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma’s fence line. More than 50 schoolchildren were playing at the time, and one boy was slightly injured from a pebble that flew up during impact.

On Dec. 7, a plastic part thought to belong to a U.S. military helicopter landed on the roof of a local day care facility, leading to protests in front of U.S. military facilities.

In October, a 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Super Stallion made an emergency landing in a farmer’s field outside Okinawa’s Northern Training Area after an inflight fire. The helicopter was an almost total loss.

The incidents have drawn the ire of Okinawa’s small but potent protest movement and its anti-base Gov. Takeshi Onaga and served as a rallying cry in the fight against relocating Marine air operations within the prefecture.

Okinawa Deputy Gov. Moritake Tomikawa lodged a protest with the U.S. military Tuesday over the latest emergency landings and called for all U.S. military aircraft on Okinawa to be grounded until safety checks are conducted — something the local government has been demanding since last month’s CH-53E incident. Tomikawa was in Tokyo Wednesday to lodge protests with Japan’s cabinet, foreign and defense ministries.