Japan Press Weekly

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2013 August 28 - September 3 [US FORCES]

JCP & civil groups demand halt to Ospreys’ flight

Following the recent crash of a U.S. Osprey transport aircraft in the American mainland, Japanese civil groups and the Japanese Communist Party made representations to the authorities on August 30 that the flight of Ospreys should be halted in Japan.

An MV-22 Osprey on August 26 made a hard landing and caught fire in Nevada. All four crew members evacuated shortly before the crash and none of them were injured. The crashed airplane is the same type as those deployed in Japan.

In Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which hosts the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station, representatives of five civil groups made a joint representation to the city mayor. They demanded that the city government urge the Japanese and U.S. administrations to put a halt to flight training exercises by the tilt-rotor aircraft in Japan at least until the cause of the accident is determined. Two JCP members of the Iwakuni City Assembly joined the action.

On the same day, JCP Okinawa Prefectural Committee members visited the Okinawa Office of the Foreign Ministry, strongly demanding a halt to the flight of Ospreys and their immediate removal from the nation. In defiance of local opposition, the two governments have deployed more than 20 MV-22 aircraft to the U.S. Futenma Air Station in Okinawa’s Ginowan City.

The JCP’s written request points out that the latest accident occurred about five kilometers from the air base in Nevada. “If it happened in Okinawa where many U.S. bases are located in densely populated areas, it could have been a terrible catastrophe,” it points out.

JCP Ginowan City Assembly member Chinen Yoshio said in anger, “Local residents are all worried that Ospreys may fall on their heads at any time.”