January 9, 2018

A U.S. AH-1 military helicopter stationed at the U.S. Futenma base in Okinawa on the evening of January 8 made an emergency landing at an industrial waste disposal site in Yomitan Village in the prefecture. Just two days earlier, the U.S. military witnessed a similar incident.

In the January 6 accident, a UH-1 helicopter of the Futenma base made a forced landing on Ikei-jima Island in Okinawa. Last month, a CH-53E helicopter of the base dropped an 8-kg window on the schoolyard of an elementary school next to the base.

In the latest case, neither of the two crewmembers on board was hurt. The accident site, which is not far from a luxurious resort hotel, was immediately placed off limits to the public and Japanese police are not being allowed to carry out investigations.

Past related articles:
> Okinawa Gov. Onaga lodges with central government protest against window dropped from US military copter [December 14-16, 2017]
> Okinawans raise outcry against CH-53E copter crash in Takae [October 14 &16, 2017]
> US military copter makes emergency landing on farm road in Okinawa [January 22&24, 2017]