Japan Press Weekly

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2018 April 18 - 24 [US FORCES]

2 US military copters make emergency landing at public airport

Two U.S. military copters on April 18 made emergency landings at a major civil airport in Kumamoto Prefecture, the Defense Ministry’s local bureau in the Kyushu region announced.

According to the Kyushu Defense Bureau, an AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and a UH-1Y utility chopper at around 1:17 p.m. on the day made an emergency landing at Kumamoto Airport. The local defense authority has yet to determine which U.S. base these helicopters belong to, in addition to the cause of the emergency landings.

Several AH-1Z Vipers and the UH-1Y copters are stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa. Accommodated on a U.S. military amphibious assault ship, the helicopters take part in military operations in the Indo-Pacific region.

Different aircraft of the same type in January made emergency landings three times in Okinawa.

Past related article:
> US military helicopter makes emergency landing on Okinawa beach [January 7 and 9, 2018]