June 27, 2012
The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly on June 26 adopted a unanimous resolution anew calling for the early return of the U.S. Futenma base and the cancellation of the plan to deploy U.S. Osprey aircraft to Okinawa.
Resolution of this kind was the second since the first one last July at a prefectural assembly level.
The passing of the resolution following the June 10 assembly election shows anew “Okinawa’s firm determination to oppose the Osprey deployment to the Japanese and U.S. governments,” said Japanese Communist Party Kayo Sogi who heads JCP assemblymembers.
He said, “The Osprey crashed twice in just the last two months, and we still don’t know what caused the accidents. The aircraft have many design defects. Okinawans are more than justified in their concern over the probability of future crashes.”
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The April and June crashes are still under investigation. The accident rate of CV22 Ospreys, the aircraft which crashed in Florida in June, is found to be twice that of AV8B Harrier fighter jets. The latter aircraft has also become a focus of controversy over its high accident rate.
The June crash occurred in fine weather with light wind conditions. The pilot was a veteran with 554 hours flight on Ospreys. The aircraft underwent body inspection and maintenance right before takeoff.
Resolution of this kind was the second since the first one last July at a prefectural assembly level.
The passing of the resolution following the June 10 assembly election shows anew “Okinawa’s firm determination to oppose the Osprey deployment to the Japanese and U.S. governments,” said Japanese Communist Party Kayo Sogi who heads JCP assemblymembers.
He said, “The Osprey crashed twice in just the last two months, and we still don’t know what caused the accidents. The aircraft have many design defects. Okinawans are more than justified in their concern over the probability of future crashes.”
* * *
The April and June crashes are still under investigation. The accident rate of CV22 Ospreys, the aircraft which crashed in Florida in June, is found to be twice that of AV8B Harrier fighter jets. The latter aircraft has also become a focus of controversy over its high accident rate.
The June crash occurred in fine weather with light wind conditions. The pilot was a veteran with 554 hours flight on Ospreys. The aircraft underwent body inspection and maintenance right before takeoff.
