Reinstating the Osprey: High-Handed Dismissal of Citizen Anxiety

Photos have captured the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s resumption of flights of the V-22 Osprey military transport aircraft, 14 of which are temporarily stationed at Kisarazu Air Field in Chiba Prefecture, following the U.S. forces and Japan’s move to reinstate flights. Last November, after a U.S. Air Force Osprey crashed in Kagoshima Prefecture, both the U.S. and Japan suspended flights of the aircraft. On March 14, the U.S. military resumed flights.

When the flights resumed, specific details about the cause of the accident were not made clear. The Osprey does not just fly around the military bases; it flies over a large area. The resumption of flights while dismissing citizens’ concerns is completely unacceptable.

The U.S. military said that the cause of the accident was a “material failure” and that it has taken safety measures, but neither the name of the part nor the details of the defect have been announced officially. Both the U.S. and Japanese governments have taken the position that there are no problems with the Osprey’s design and structure, and the Japanese government confirmed the reinstatement of the flights, having received a detailed explanation from the U.S. military.

Why have the details of the accident’s cause not been announced? If the reason is that the investigation is still in progress, would it not be logical to resume the flights after the investigation is complete and the results have been disclosed?

Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara will not be able to “thoroughly explain” the situation to relevant local governments without touching on the specific details of the cause of the accident. Shouldn’t the Japanese government put its utmost effort into pressing the U.S. military to explain to the citizens? If the government, along with the U.S. military, hastens the flights, it will inevitably take the blame for dismissing safety concerns.

Without an explanation of the cause of the accident and any countermeasures, resuming the flights will further heighten suspicions that the Osprey is a “defective military aircraft” and concerns for regions where the aircraft is deployed will inevitably pile up. It is only natural that Denny Tamaki, governor of Okinawa, where there is a large concentration of U.S. military facilities, opposes the move, saying that he is “totally unconvinced.”

The government says that the Osprey excels in mobility and range, so it is vital to the defense of the far-flung Nansei Islands and for disaster relief, but because of its history of repeated domestic and foreign incidents, a U.S. House Committee has called its safety into question.

Okinawa is not the only place in Japan where the Osprey flies; it is also used in training drills in metropolitan areas, including the Tokyo region. Resuming flights while the concerns of citizens remain, and not just those residing near the outskirts of military bases, also harms the credibility of the U.S.-Japan Security treaty system.

Rather than resuming the flights, both the U.S. and Japanese governments should prioritize announcing the results of the investigation and thoroughly enforcing safety measures. If the aircraft is defective, they must have the courage to review the deployment itself.