US Military Helicopter Crash: Make Okinawa's Skies Safe Again

Okinawa’s fears of yet another U.S. military aircraft accident have become a reality.

An HH-60 rescue helicopter from Kaneda Air Base crashed and went up in flames in the mountains on the premises of U.S. military Camp Hansen. Of the four crew members, three escaped unharmed, but the condition of the fourth member is unknown.

U.S. military facilities in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa. In the town of Kin, where Camp Hansen is located, the U.S. military base occupies about 60 percent of the town. It wouldn’t even be surprising if a U.S. aircraft crashed in a residential area.

Okinawa’s skies must be made safe again. The Japanese government should be strongly protesting and making absolutely sure that the U.S. is taking measures to prevent accidents from occurring in the future.

This is the 45th U.S. military plane crash in the 41 years since Okinawa was returned to Japan. That’s more than once per year; it was only three months ago that an F-15 fighter plane crashed off the coast of the village of Kunigami.

The dangers of these drills are not being addressed. The U.S. military stated that they are “thoroughly investigating the cause of the accident,” but we need to make sure that they actually go through with these investigations.

This incident comes amid unanimous opposition in Okinawa to the additional deployment of the new U.S. military MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The reason for this opposition is also safety concerns.

The Osprey had three crashes during the test flight stage and three more during combat deployment. The citizens whose lives are being put at risk are opposing the additional deployment even more strongly since the recent helicopter accident.

In response to the incident, the U.S. Marine Corps announced that the 10 Ospreys currently being held at Iwakuni Air Base will not be deployed to Futenma Air Base in Okinawa at this time. It would be unacceptable to ignore the current state of things in Okinawa and go ahead with the deployment.

There is also the issue of the U.S. military’s post-accident response. According to the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Japanese citizens are not permitted to enter the bases without the consent of the U.S. military. As a result of this, a Japanese fire engine was sent away from the crash site and the Okinawa prefectural police were blocked by a gate when trying to write a report of the crash.

The U.S. military didn’t publicize the incident until more than two hours after the crash, and even then the content of the report was insufficient. We have no choice but to accept the fact that the local community is not being taken into consideration.

In August 2004, a large U.S. Marine Corps transport helicopter crashed into an Okinawa International University building near Futenma Air Base. In that incident as well, the U.S. military set up No Trespassing lines at the scene immediately following the accident. The U.S.-Japan SOFA is functioning as a barrier to obstruct Japanese involvement.

What if the Japanese government were to propose a joint investigation of this accident? If it’s left up to the U.S. military, the concerns of the local people will not be addressed.