Japan Press Weekly

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2014 September 3 - 9 [US FORCES]

US military jet catches fire after landing at Okinawa base

A U.S. AV-8B Harrier jet on September 4 caught fire just after landing at the U.S. Kadena base in Okinawa.

The Okinawa Defense Bureau announced that emergency vehicles at the base quickly extinguished the fire and no injuries were sustained.

The aircraft in question reportedly flew in from the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni base in Iwakuni City in Yamaguchi Prefecture for flight training exercises.

A resident, who witnessed the accident from outside the base, said that it could have turned into a catastrophe.

He said that the fighter jet returned to the base only three minutes after taking off. Soon after the pilot got off the airplane, flames rose from the bottom of the jet, the man explained.

He angrily said, “Despite the accident, the U.S. military carried on with the flight drills of other Harrier jets. The U.S. military pays no attention to the safety of Okinawans.”

Harriers have had 17 accidents in Okinawa, including four crashes on the sea, according to the Okinawa prefectural government. In 1999, a Harrier caught fire after failing to take off at the Kadena base.