Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 29 - May 12 [US FORCES]

Osprey useless for disaster relief activities

The Japanese and U.S. governments seek to conduct flight training exercises of Osprey aircraft all across Japan under the pretext of improving disaster preparedness. However, a recent accident caused by an Osprey in Nepal has proved that the aircraft are inappropriate for disaster relief activities, Akahata reported on May 9.

The Nepalese major daily Kantipur’s e-edition on May 5 reported that a U.S. Osprey blew off the roof of a house during its relief mission to assist evacuees following a massive earthquake that hit Nepal.

According to the U.S. Marine Corps, four Ospreys attached to the Futenma air base in Okinawa arrived at Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu on May 3 and completed 16 flight missions as of May 7. Akahata reported that one of the four Ospreys caused the accident.

Experts had pointed out that Ospreys are not suitable for disaster relief missions because the strong turbulence from their rotors cadn cause damage to objects around landing sites.