Japan Press Weekly

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2019 April 3 - 9 [US FORCES]

JCP in Itami City protests against emergency landing of US Osprey at Itami airport

The day after the emergency landing made at Itami airport on April 1 by a U.S. MV-22 Osprey assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma base in Okinawa, the Japanese Communist Party Itami City Assemblypersons' group made a representation to the Itami City mayor, demanding that the city government lodge a protest to the U.S. military.

The deputy mayor responded by saying that the city "will make a strong protest" against the unscheduled landing at the civilian airport which stretches over Hyogo's Itami City and Osaka's Toyonaka City.

The JCP members of the local assembly also demanded that the mayor press both the U.S. and Japanese authorities to determine the cause of emergency landing; clarify the purpose of Osprey flights; check to make sure that nothing has fallen off from the aircraft onto nearby residential areas; stop flying military aircraft above residential areas; and take effective measures to prevent a recurrence.

They pointed out that Osprey aircraft are not only accident prone, but also carry out dangerous flight operations such as changing between helicopter mode and airplane mode while flying over residential areas, and that such unsafe actions violate the relevant Japan-U.S. agreement. They said that the central government should insist that the Osprey deployment to Japan be terminated.

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The Japan Peace Committee, in a letter of protest it sent to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and Defense Minister Iwaya Takeshi on April 2, demanded the removal of all Osprey aircraft from the country and an immediate halt to their flights.

The letter cites the fact that Futenma-based MV-22s have had two crashes and made six emergency landings since the end of 2016, and that CV-22s stationed at the U.S. Yokota base in Tokyo made an emergency landing at a civilian airport.

Pointing out that the "Class-A" accident rate involving MV-22s per 100,000 flight hours has been increasing, the letter states, "It is obvious to everyone that Osprey aircraft have a high incidence of accidents."

Past related articles:
> 3 US Ospreys make emergency landings within one day [August 15 and 17, 2018]
> 3 US Ospreys yet again forced to make emergency landings at civilian airport in Kagoshima [ June 5, 2018]