March 7, 2024

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku on March 6 at a House of Councilors Committee meeting said that the government should urge the U.S. forces not to resume Osprey flights.

The U.S. military has suspended flights of Osprey aircraft around the world following a fatal crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey off Kagoshima’s Yakushima Island in November 2023, killing all eight crewmembers on board. However, the U.S. news agency, the Associated Press (AP), recently reported that U.S forces plan to lift the flight ban.

At the Upper House Budget Committee meeting, Yamazoe noted that according to the AP, the U.S. Air Force said that it has identified a mechanical failure in the fatal crash off Yakushima but still does not know why the failure happened. He asked the government if it checked the cause of the crash with the U.S. military. Defense Minister Kihara Minoru in reply only said, “The U.S. side says that it is still investigating the accident and is engaged in analysis of information at hand.”

Yamazoe pointed out that it is reported that high-ranking U.S. Navy officials will visit Japan to explain the Osprey flight resumption plan. He stressed that the investigation is still ongoing in regard to the Yakushima incident and the deadly crash of U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 in Australia in August 2023 that killed three Marines. He said, “The government should tell the U.S. side that Japan disallows Osprey flights until the investigation into the November 2023 fatal crash is completed.” Prime Minister Kishida Fumio only said that the government continues to request information sharing with the U.S. side.

Stating, “It is pointed out that accident-prone Ospreys have yet-to-be-determined structural flaws,” Yamazoe demanded that this aircraft be removed from Japan.

Past related articles:
> JCP Policy Commission Chair: Ospreys should be removed, not just grounded [December 8 & 9, 2023]
> US Osprey crashes into waters off Kagoshima, first fatal accident in Japan [November 30 & December 1, 2023]