Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 8 - 14 [US FORCES]

Noise levels of low-flying US aircraft intensify

Low-altitude flight training exercises by U.S. military aircraft are escalating in the western region of Japan.

Hiroshima

At 1:30 p.m. on December 20, 2011, two U.S. military aircraft flew over the Sakugi Elementary School in Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, at a very low altitude. The many children playing during lunch break in the schoolyard were filled with fear (as reported to the city), with some crying or even screaming.

According to a survey by the Japanese Communist Party Hiroshima Prefectural Committee, their altitude was below 200 meters. It is clear that the flight altitude was well below the minimum safe altitude set at 300 meters under Japanese aviation law.

The Hiroshima prefectural government on December 16 requested both the Japanese and U.S. governments for a halt to low-flight training exercises as the number of such exercises between April and September 2011 reached 675, the second highest number of exercises held in that time frame since the survey began.

The prefecture protested to both governments, saying that the U.S. military low-flight exercises violate the Japan-U.S. agreement stating that due considerations would be paid to schools and other public facilities (Dec. 27). The Miyoshi city government also demanded a halt to such exercises, saying that the action was utterly unacceptable and deplorable (Dec. 22).

In January, a letter of reply dated Jan. 11 was received from the U.S. Embassy in Japan. Without a word of apology, it defiantly and bluntly stated that low-flight training exercises by U.S. military aircraft are necessary to the Japan-U.S. alliance.

Shimane

At twenty past noon on September 29, 2011, a U.S. military jet flew low above the Sano Elementary School in Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture. Children preparing their lunches “were frightened, with some dropping to the floor. The noise was so loud that even teachers in the teachers’ room were frightened (as stated in the petition to the city).”

The city has already requested through the prefecture a stop to the low-flight training exercises. This time, the city petitioned for the first time in the city mayor’s name for a stop of the training exercises to the Japanese and U.S. governments (Nov. 2). However, on November 3, low flight exercises took place at 9:20 p.m. for 30 minutes above Asahi Town in the city. Describing the noise as equivalent to a shock wave from a nearby thunderbolt, the city again requested a halt to the low-flight exercises on Nov. 29.

In December, the city installed equipment at its branch office in the town to measure the noise. In January, noises at 80-90 decibels were recorded, a level which makes even having conversations in a loud voice difficult.

Kochi

In December 2011 in Kochi Prefecture, local municipalities reported 29 occasions of low-flight training exercises involving 36 aircraft, which was the most recorded in the monthly records kept over the last four years. Four towns and villages (Ookawa Village, Tosa Town, Ootoyo Town, and Motoyama Town), all of which experienced frequent U.S. low-flight training exercises, on December 28 submitted a request for a halt to the exercises to the Chugoku-Shikoku Defense Bureau under the joint signatures of the four municipal heads.

On November 29, low altitude flights by three aircraft occurred at the same time when a fire prevention helicopter practice was taking place at a hospital in Motoyama Town. The prefecture on January 19 demanded an “immediate halt” to the Japanese government, saying that low-flight training exercises without advance notification of routes and times threaten the safety of fire and medical helicopter flights.

Gunma

Most of the aircraft conducting low-flight training in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions are aircraft of the U.S. Marines at Iwakuni Base (Yamaguchi Pref.) or aircraft from the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington. The carrier-borne aircraft also began fierce training exercises in Gunma Prefecture. Complaints about the noise and low flights of U.S. military aircraft in the prefecture totaled 164 in January.