Japan Press Weekly

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2014 March 26 - April 1 [US FORCES]

Discarded US marine’s parachute falls from the sky in Okinawa

During a parachute landing training drill on March 26 in Ie Village, Okinawa Prefecture, personnel of the U.S. Marine Corps accidentally dropped a parachute outside the training site. Nobody was injured.

On the morning of the same day, one of the eight marines in the drill found his/her parachute did not open. The marine used a spare parachute and discarded the first one which landed in a pasture 350 meters away from the U.S. Ie Island Sub-Air Base, 140 meters away from the nearest house.

The U.S. military had removed the parachute before Ie Village officials arrived at the site.

Just two months earlier, two marines parachuted out of an MV22 Osprey and landed outside the training site by accident.

Japanese Communist Party member of the Ie Village Assembly Naka Minoru, after the on-site inspection said, “Another accident. I am sick and tired of these accidents.” Pointing to the situation where another accident could happen at any time, he demanded that the outrageous exercise drill be halted without delay.

On the following day, the Ie Village Assembly unanimously adopted a statement in protest against the accident.

Past related article
> Marines parachute onto land outside designated training site [January 15, 2014]