TOKYO - Governor of Okinawa, Japan; Takeshi Onaga, expressed his anger over the presence of US forces in his area after a series of dangerous helicopter incidents.
"Crazy," Onaga muffled. "The US military is out of control. There is no supervision, "he continued on Wednesday.
Onaga's governor was angry after three military helicopters made an emergency landing within a month.
Onaga remarks were delivered while on a trip to Tokyo to meet with party leader Komeito. During the meeting, he will call for a thorough investigation of the US military helicopter landing streaks, including the latest in Tonaki Village on Tuesday.
During this January AH-1 helicopters have twice made unscheduled landings. On January 8, an AH-1 helicopter from the Futenma base was forced to make an emergency landing at a landfill near the yard of a hotel in Yomitan.
Two days earlier, a UH-1 helicopter from the Futenma base also made an emergency landing on a beach on Ikei Island. "This is because the main rotor is moving at too high a speed," said the US Marine Corps at the time.
Onaga, as reported by NHK on Thursday (01/25/2010), requested that all US military aircraft be subject to sanctions until an emergency check is conducted.
Many Okinawan residents have also been frustrated by the US military presence on their island, due to noise and a series of accidents.
In December 2017, a window from a US military helicopter crashed into a school sports field near Futenma. In November, a US Marine killed a 61-year-old woman in a car accident for drunk driving.
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Monday that accidents or incidents involving US military aircraft in Japan doubled to 25 cases by 2017.
(mas)