US aircraft component may have fallen off again

March 7, 2018

Naha, Okinawa Pref.- A component of an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the US Air Force's Kadena base in Okinawa Prefecture was lost on Feb. 27, Japanese officials said Wednesday.

The component may have fallen off during a flight, similar to recent incidents in which objects fell from US military aircraft.

The latest case may provoke a backlash from residents of the southernmost prefecture, due in part to the US forces' delayed report to the Japanese side, made on Monday.

According to the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau, the component was an antenna 38 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide, weighing some 1.4 kilograms. It is not immediately known where it was lost.

"We have asked the United States to provide information swiftly," Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters. "We'll ask the country to put top priority on safety during flights."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "It's very regrettable that we haven't received a report immediately."

The Defense Ministry has protested to the US military and asked it to report such incidents promptly, identify the cause of the latest case and take preventive measures, Suga told a press conference.

On Feb. 9, a component of an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft belonging to the US.Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan, Okinawa, was found on a beach on the island of Ikeijima in the same prefecture.

On Feb. 20, an F-16 fighter from the US Air Force's Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture dumped two fuel tanks into a lake in the northeastern prefecture due to an engine fire.

Speaking to reporters, Okinawa Vice Governor Moritake Tomikawa expressed strong frustration with the US side, saying there has been no telephone call on the latest incident. Jiji Press