City assembly condemns US chopper window dropping

December 15, 2017

Ginowan, Okinawa Pref.- The city assembly of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the recent dropping of a US military helicopter window and its metal frame onto a local elementary school as a "serious life-threatening incident."

In the resolution, which was adopted by a unanimous vote, the Ginowan assembly expressed "fierce anger" at US military aircraft's continued flights over residential areas in the city, which hosts the US Marine Corps' Futenma air station, while the cause of the incident has not been identified yet.

On Wednesday, a window and its metal frame, weighing 7.7 kilograms in total, fell off a CH-53E large transport helicopter of the Marine Corps onto the grounds of the elementary school adjacent to the Futenma base.

The resolution also mentioned the discovery of a part of the same type of military helicopter on the roof of a nursery near the base last week.

Anxiety, fear and distrust of the US military have reached a peak among local citizens, who have to lead a life with their lives always at risk, it said.

The assembly demanded that US military aircraft be grounded until the cause of the latest incident is determined and called for the Futenma air station to be closed and its site to be returned to Okinawa as early as possible. Jiji Press