US Military Helicopter Emergency Landing in Tsuken: Stop US Military Flights

It’s really by chance that there were no casualties. A UH-1 multipurpose helicopter belonging to the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma made an emergency landing in a field on Tsuken Island due to mechanical problems.

The proximity of the emergency landing site, 120 meters from homes (approximately 360 feet), scared the residents. It is also hard to believe that the helicopter was training in the middle of the night over residential areas.

We know once again that the U.S. military does not care about the safety of the people in Okinawa prefecture. If the U.S. military is unable to put citizens’ minds to rest, it should stop flying completely.

If the pilot had lost control of the aircraft even slightly, it is possible that residents would have been injured.

The landing also showed that noise control measures that restrict flights after 10 p.m. are not being applied. This incident has revealed the selfishness of the U.S. military. It is only natural that the U.S. should investigate the cause of the incident and provide an explanation to the people of the prefecture. At the same time, the Japanese government should thoroughly examine whether the promises made between Japan and the U.S. are being kept.

The emergency landing has once again brought the Agreed Minutes to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement into focus. The Agreed Minutes are a de facto secret agreement that preserves the privileges of the U.S. military during its occupation, and that hinders investigations and inspections when accidents occur.

According to Akiko Yamamoto, an associate professor at the University of the Ryukyus, the Agreed Minutes go beyond the scope of the Status of Forces Agreement, allowing aircraft to take off and land not only in facilities and areas provided by the U.S. military, but also in the vicinity of such facilities and areas, and also allows it to close off the whole site.

There is no definition of “vicinity,” and considering the way the U.S. military has responded to accidents so far, it seems that it recognizes the entire prefecture of Okinawa as being in the “vicinity.” The saying that there is no base in Okinawa but Okinawa is in the base is a reality.

It is unclear to what extent the police in Okinawa prefecture will be able to investigate the cause of this emergency landing. The Japanese control the outer cordon area, but the U.S. military, for practical purposes, controls the inner cordon area surrounding the landing site.

In 2005, following a U.S. helicopter crash at Okinawa International University in 2004, the Japanese and U.S. government signed a guideline agreement that allows both Japan and the U.S. to enter accident sites, and in 2019, following a 2017 U.S. helicopter crash-landing in Takae, Higashimura, the guideline agreement signed in 2005 was revised to stipulate that Japanese police and firefighters would be allowed to enter the sites expeditiously.

However, in reality, U.S. military consent is required, and the Japanese cannot touch any aircraft at an accident site. As of June 4, the Japanese government has not requested access to the inner cordon area. The U.S. military did not cooperate after the two accidents at Okinawa International University and Takae, and as a result, the prefectural police completed their investigation without identifying any suspects.

The citizens of the prefecture are angry at both the U.S. military, which has not relinquished its occupation-era privileges, and the Japanese government, which has not taken a proactive stance on the investigation and inspection. Which is the priority: the lives of the prefectural residents or U.S. military operations? Looking at the current response, it is clearly the latter.

The skies of Okinawa belong to the people who live in Okinawa. It is not a place for U.S. military aircraft to insolently fly around. The Japanese government should take a firm stand in asking the U.S. military to stop the flights.