Japan Press Weekly

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2012 August 29 - September 4 [US FORCES]

Gov’t report on Osprey crash prioritizes deployment rather than people’s lives

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Japan’s defense ministry on August 28 published an analysis report on the crash of the U.S. latest model aircraft Osprey in Morocco, which stated that the accident was mainly due to “human error”. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to deploy the aircraft to Okinawa.

The ministry’s report accepted without question another report which the U.S. Marine Corps provided about two weeks ago. It is unforgivable to force Okinawans to accept Ospreys based on such a vapid statement giving top priority to the deployment.

The Osprey aircraft has had repeated crashes since their development phase and they crashed twice in this year alone in Morocco and the U.S. The Marines attributed the crash in Morocco to “pilot error” in its report.

Japan’s defense ministry endorsed the U.S. report, stating that an inexperienced co-pilot’s error caused the crash and that there was nothing wrong with the plane itself.

The aircraft is to be deployed to Okinawa in September after some test flights at the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and start operations from October. It was expected that the accident reports would conclude that there was no problem with the plane body because the U.S. Marines and the Japanese government had no intention to change the deployment plan even following the crashes.

However, the report will never satisfy Okinawan people. In the United States, it was repeatedly pointed that due to the complicated structure of the rotary and fixed wing aircraft, the Osprey is not only hard to pilot but also structurally defective. It is hard to trust the report which is based on a perfunctory investigation and analysis and its assertion that the crash was caused by pilot error.

In the U.S., some plans to conduct Osprey flight training were called off. The U.S. Forces decided to give up flight training exercises in New Mexico due to opposition by local residents who were concerned with safety issues. A plan of flight drills at a Hawaiian airport was canceled because of opposition by local people concerned about the noise and negative impacts on the environment and agriculture. It is an unreasonable argument that only the Japanese people, especially Okinawans, should accept the high risk of Osprey crashes.

All the municipalities and a wide range of residents in Okinawa Prefecture oppose the Osprey deployment plan, and a protest rally will be held on September 9.

If the Japanese government insists on the deployment plan no matter how hard people express their opposition, it shows that the government gives priority to the U.S. Forces’ interest over people’s lives. Such an attitude is unacceptable. To counter the government using the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty as an excuse, it is important to strengthen the movement for the abrogation of the treaty.