F-15 Fighters to Fly Again: No Forgiving Military Arrogance

This decision is a huge mistake. The United States Air Force resumed practice flights for F-15 fighters at the Kadena Air Base on the morning of May 30, a mere two days after the crash. Neither a detailed explanation of the accident nor a plan for preventing further incidents have been released, let alone an investigation of the cause.

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima stated that “the crash could have led to heavy casualties and property damage had there been even the slightest mistake,” and strongly requested that the practice flights be put on hold until the cause had been fully investigated. On May 29, political parties in the prefecture, in particular the Okinawa chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party, held a series of protests and opened a public assembly.

The American side explained that “[they’ve] inspected all of [their] F-15s and are confident they are safe to resume training.” However, it feels as if they are not only ignoring the requests of the prefecture, but failing to reflect on the incident as well.

To resume practice flights is to trod on the opinions of the residents who are exposed to the dangers of plane crashes. This goes beyond simple violent behavior. This condemns the people of Okinawa to live with only their most basic human rights. Are these really the principles of America, the self-proclaimed country of democracy? I can’t help but be appalled.

This crash fortunately did not become a terrible tragedy. Not only did the plane land in the ocean, but the pilot escaped and was rescued without injury. The U.S. military identified the problem — there had been some sort of malfunction with the fuselage — but with only a day’s worth of inspection, can it guarantee that the same malfunction won’t occur above town areas? There is no way to suppress the deep suspicion and strong resentment of the people of Okinawa.

In November 2007, an F-15 fighter plane fell apart in mid-air and crashed near the Missouri River. As a result, the military suspended all F-15 flights for almost a month and a half, including those at the Kadena Air Base. Because they found cracks in the planes’ primary structural materials, they concluded that there would be serious structural defects within the pilots’ emergency escape systems and had no choice but to suspend flights.

There is a great difference between the measures taken then and the overly hasty plans now to resume practice flights in the prefecture. I can only assume that priority is given first to military logic, with the lives and property of the regional citizens coming in second. This double standard needs to be dissolved immediately.

The Japanese government’s support is also difficult to understand. Why does it hesitate to request that the Americans suspend flights until they finish investigating the cause of the crash? Would they approve the resumption of flights just two days after the crash if it had involved the Japan Self-Defense Forces aircraft instead? There is no way that public opinion would allow it. We are not bending over backwards for the Americans just yet, but as a sovereign nation, we lack a surprisingly large amount of independence.

We cannot possibly allow practice flights to resume before the reason behind the crash has been fully investigated. The F-15 flights should be suspended immediately.