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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

U.S. F-15s in Okinawa caused 110 accidents

An Akahata survey has found that F-15 fighters stationed at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa had 110 accidents between 1979 when they were first deployed in Kadena and 2004.

The accidents included 79 emergency landings at U.S. bases, 7 such landings outside U.S. bases, 7 crashes, and 5 parts drops. These F-15 accidents account for 45 percents of the total accidents caused by fixed-wing aircraft.

The U.S. Forces in Japan are planning to relocate F-15 fighter exercises from Kadena to five Air Self-Defense Force bases in Chitose (Hokkaido), Hyakuri (Ibaraki), Komatsu (Ishikawa), Tsuiki (Fukuoka), and Nyutabaru (Miyazaki).

A news reporter in Okinawa said, "The number of aircraft accidents has increased sharply in the last few years. It is because, as Okinawans' concerns over U.S. bases increased, residents and media started to ask U.S. forces and Defense Facility Administration Bureau to confirm emergency landings, which had not been considered as serious accidents since they occurred regularly."

In April 1994, a F-15 fighter crashed at an ammunition depot in the Kadena base, dropping a tire and axle on a farmer's barn. The farmer, Ikehara Hideaki, said, "I happened to be out that day. The tire weighed about 30kg and the axle more than 10kg. I clearly remember that I trembled with fear thinking what if I was in the cow barn." -- Akahata, November 10, 2005