Japanese officials urge Osprey removal from base as flights resume

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Mar 2024 10:13
3 Shares

Local authorities in Okinawa, Japan, protest the resumption of the flaky V-22 Osprey, fearing further crashes.

A US MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft flies back to the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, south of Okinawa, southern Japan, on September 6, 2023. (AP)

The prefectural assembly of the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa has lodged a protest against the resumption of flights for the joint Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.

Following multiple crashes in 2023, the US-developed aircraft has been pushed to the limelight in Japan. Both the protest and the written statement of the assembly called for the removal of the tiltrotor aircraft from the US Marine Corps Futenma air station, after garnering the unanimous support of Okinawa's prefectural assembly members.

Earlier this month, Japanese citizens took to the streets in a rallying protest at Chiba Prefecture to protest the resumption of Osprey flights by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) at its base in Kisarazu.

The event marked the first flight of the Osprey aircraft at the Kisarazu base in over three months since a US Osprey aircraft carrying eight people crashed off Japan's southwestern island of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture on November 29 last year.

After being involved in three fatal accidents in around a year, the V-22 Osprey aircraft lost its glamour, as the US has prided itself on the unique aircraft, which can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and rotate its propellers forward to fly like a turboprop aircraft.

Back in December 2023, Japan decided to ground its entire Osprey fleet, asking US forces in the country to do the same. It is worth noting that the US military has installed dozens of camps, training grounds, and offices in Japan, as well as eight airstrips, air facilities, and airbases.

Japanese citizens have complained about both the loud noise produced by the Osprey and the fact that US and Japanese militaries have not released any information to the public that details the causes behind the technical malfunctions that caused the Osprey to crash.