A U.S. military aircraft made an Tuesday night on an island in the southern prefecture of Okinawa after a cockpit warning light came on, Japan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
No injuries were reported and the tilt-rotor aircraft was not damaged when it landed at the Ie Jima Auxiliary Airfield, near Okinawa’s main island. The U.S. military explained that it was a preventive landing, the ministry said.
The belongs to the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, also in Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan.
Use of , which can take off and land like a helicopter and cruise like a plane, has provoked anger among Okinawa residents due to their noise and history of accidents overseas. Safety concerns were heightened after one of the aircraft crash-landed in waters near Okinawa’s main island in December.
==Kyodo
