[Accident Report] US military accidents in 1972 to 2000 in Okinawa, Japan

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Reading the attrition list is a big part of following aviation.

I just thought it was a bit morbid. If one wants to learn from accidents the NTSB type sites are better and list causes and sometimes recommendations. Simply listing crashes here in the brief format posted is not much better then a database of poor luck and errors and sad results.

While crashes are sadly part of aviation - so I guess is rubber necking at car crashes on freeways. In this case I'll keep my eyes on the road and be thankful it's not my name or plane on the database... Just my 2 cents.

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Just my 2 cents:

FYI, I began to contribute Northeast Asia news to AFM, and these forurms here, since only 2003 August, when a Hong Kong Government Flying Service helo crashed and its crew bought the farm, and I thought I couldn't allow their names and details to disappear from aviation history. 8(

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RF-4B

] On 27 September 1977, an USMC RF-4B took off from Atsugi
] AB, Kanagawa Prefecture, had an engine fire, and crashed.

RF-4B-41-MC, RF 611, BuNo 157344.

The photo at
http://skywarrior.cool.ne.jp/vmfp-3-2sub.htm
is reportedly taken when it took off at Runway 01 at Atsugi AB, on 27 September 1977.
Note white vapour from engine nozzle...

Attachments

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For the USMC CH-53 that crashed in Okinawa International University, Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2004:

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070531-00000006-ryu-oki
reported:

30 May 2007, Wednesday:
The US side refused to reveal the names of the crew of the US military helicopter that crashed into Okinawa International University, in August 2004.
The three years time limit for aviation dangerous behaviour punishment law violation will expire in August 2007.

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Friday, 24 October 2008:
Cessna 172. N4961R.
Kadena Aero Club, USAF, based at Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture.
18:35, crashed into cane field, and caught fire. 80 m from Family Mart convenience store, Makiya, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture. 300 m southeast of Nago City kindergarten and Nago City primary school. 8 km from Nago City government office.
Three of four male USAF crew wounded, and delivered to hospital. Aged 24, 28, 30, 45. Pilot (45) had factured left foot.

One crew claimed flew at low altitude and hit power lines.
No ground casualty, but 700 families in area had temporary power loss.

Afternoon, took off at Kadena AB.
16:24, landed at Amami AP, Amami Ooshima [island], Kagoshima Prefecture.
17:08, took off at Amami AP. Scheduled to land at Kadena AB, after two hours.
Before crash, aircraft told control tower that no fuel, and losing power.

Wreck at crash site examined by fire department, police, US military.
Kadena AB claimed aircraft was refuelled at Amami AP.
Amami AP claimed aircraft was not refulled at Amami AP. Kadena Aero Club usually faxed Amami AP about refuelling, before its aircraft arrived. Kadena Aero Club did not fax Amami AP, and this aircraft was not refuelled.

Aircraft flight distance maximum 1,100 km. Amami to Okinawa, 300 km. If aircraft had full fuel tank, did not need to refuel at Amami AP.
Prefectural police must have US military consent to detain and examine US military property. US military did not allow prefectural police to detain this wreck.
25 October, afternoon, US military disassembled wreck and removed to Kadena AB.

Video news, displaying serial number:
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/ann/20081026/20081026-00000006-ann-soci.html

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081026-00000014-mai-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081025-00000015-ryu-oki
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081024-00000157-jij-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081024-00000127-mai-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081024-00000052-yom-soci

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(The Okinawa natives are restless...)

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58525

"Okinawa police question pilot in emergency landing"

Pacific edition, Saturday, November 1, 2008
By Natasha Lee and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa ? Okinawa police Wednesday questioned the American pilot of a U.S. government-owned Cessna that made an emergency landing Oct. 24 in a sugar cane field in Nago, Okinawa prefectural police said Thursday.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65545&archive=true

"Cessna 'crash' draws complaint
Nago major says U.S. interfered with probe; flights are suspended"

Pacific edition, Thursday, October 30, 2008
By Natasha Lee and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa ? The Nago mayor filed a complaint Tuesday with the top U.S. military leader on the island, saying military police interfered with an investigation after a Cessna piloted by Americans made an emergency landing Friday night near a sugar cane field.

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(The Okinawa natives are restless...)

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58525

"Okinawa police question pilot in emergency landing"

Pacific edition, Saturday, November 1, 2008
By Natasha Lee and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa ? Okinawa police Wednesday questioned the American pilot of a U.S. government-owned Cessna that made an emergency landing Oct. 24 in a sugar cane field in Nago, Okinawa prefectural police said Thursday.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65545&archive=true

"Cessna 'crash' draws complaint
Nago major says U.S. interfered with probe; flights are suspended"

Pacific edition, Thursday, October 30, 2008
By Natasha Lee and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa ? The Nago mayor filed a complaint Tuesday with the top U.S. military leader on the island, saying military police interfered with an investigation after a Cessna piloted by Americans made an emergency landing Friday night near a sugar cane field.

of course they're restless.. and all these bases won't serve Tokyo's interests either as Okinawans are beginning to feel more and more that the mainland Japanese harbor some kind of discriminatory policies, which included refusing to acknowledge Okinawans as a separate ethnicity and minority, whitewashing what Japanese commanders did in Okinawa during WWII, and nowadays having nearly 75% of all the American bases concentrated on one tiny island despite the protest of the local people and local government.

i've said it many times before, if Tokyo wants US bases so badly, put them on the mainland. For the US at least, moving bases to Kyushu would be more convenient for them as it's closer to the Koreas, still a reasonable distance to Taiwan, closer to Russia, and more open spaces in the southern half than an over crowded Okinawa Island that has had strong negative histories of Japanese and US rule over the island.

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] of course they're restless..

Reminds me of a quote that I once read in soc.culture.japan, back in the '90s, probably by a fellow Chinese Netter; and that impressed me so much that I still remember it: "At least now they know how it feels to be occupied by a foreign army."

] if Tokyo wants US bases so badly, put them on the mainland.

Seriously, when I began researching military aircraft accidents (including many non-fatal emergency landings) in Japan since end of WWII, I was amused that a few were RAF.
ISTR from somewhere that just after WWII, the Brits occupied part of Japan for a very short while?
You happen to have any idea about for how many years, and at which air bases?

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Reminds me of a quote that I once read in soc.culture.japan, back in the '90s, probably by a fellow Chinese Netter; and that impressed me so much that I still remember it: "At least now they know how it feels to be occupied by a foreign army."

But its not quite the same. Japan is the one that invaded and occupied its neighbors not Okinawa. Okinawa at the time, despite being Japanese territory, was not quite considered Japanese as the Japanese gov't still ranked Okinawans lower and as a subclass. Okinawa during WWII was still undergoing a "Japanization" process in which Okinawans were still being forced to learn Japanese and forbidden to speak the Okinawan language. To put it simply, they were undergoing similar things Japan were doing to Korea, Taiwan, etc. The following US military occupation saw Japan eventually being left to control their own fate, but Okinawa was still a US territory until the 70s and continues to house most of the US military bases (in addition to the regular JSDF bases). If some bitter Chinese netter enjoys seeing foreign military occupation of Japan, then let him be disappointed because its mostly in Okinawa, not Tokyo (which the one who directed the invasion, and continues to hold many politicians unapologetic to it).

Most Okinawans are sympathetic towards what happened to the rest of its neighbors as similar things happened there. Even the Okinawan Peace Memorial dedicated to those who fallen in the Battle of Okinawa, contains names of Okinawans who died.. as well as Japanese soldiers and even American soldiers and other people who fought on the other side. There's even a dedicated monument to Korean soldiers forced to fight for the Japanese. How often do you see memorials that list names of so many types of combatants and civilians.


ISTR from somewhere that just after WWII, the Brits occupied part of Japan for a very short while?
You happen to have any idea about for how many years, and at which air bases?

Sadly I do not know which, but I would imagine it would be somewhere in the south west. There was a plan to partition Japan into zones like how Berlin was.. the UK was to get something around Kyushu or the Chugoku region I believe, perhaps they had something there. Obviously that plan never came into fruition.

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http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/trial/090330/trl0903301953015-n1.htm

30 March 2009:
USAF Lieutenant Colonel (45) fined and paid 200,000 Yen [about 2,200 USD] to Naha City court, for crashed his Cessna aircraft in Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, on 24 October 2008.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090630-00000009-maip-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090630-00000009-maip-soci.view-000
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090630-00000031-mai-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090630-00000060-jij-soci

30 June 2009:
50th anniversary of the USAF F-100D (55-3633A, of 44th TFS, USAF, based at Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture) that crashed into the Miyamori Elemntary School in Ishikawa City, Okinawa Prefecture.
17 were killed, and 210 were wounded, most of whom were kids.

Pilot John Schmitz ejected and survived.

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Thursday, 21 January 2010:
F-16.
35th FW, USAF, at Misawa AB, Aomori Prefecture.
14:45, during training, oil meter was abnormal, and pilot dumped auxiliary fuel tank into training area, Pacific Ocean, 150 km northeast of Misawa AB.
F-16 returned to base, and confirmed oil leak.

Diameter, 85 cm. Length, 4 m 50 cm. Volume, 1,140 L. Weight, without fuel, 170 kg.

1st Region, JCG, investigated the area.

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2010/01/20100123t23020.htm
http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100122144107.asp
http://mainichi.jp/area/aomori/news/20100123ddlk02040021000c.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/policy/100122/plc1001222053027-n1.htm

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http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100129-00000005-ryu-oki

28 January 2010:
According to the Kadena town assembly, from 1972 to 2008 December, in Okinawa Prefecture, were 487 US military aircraft accidents.
323 accidents (66%) happened at Kadena AB.
133 accidents (27.3%) happened outside Kadena AB.
12 accidents (2.5%) happened at Futenma AB.

Sorted by aircraft types, Kadena-based F-15s had 168 accidents.
Kadena-based KC-135s had 36 accidents.
Futenma-based CH-46s had 28 accidents.

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6 February 2010:
B-52H. Tail code LA.
USAF.
18:00, emergency landed at Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture.
Local newspapers claimed it was flying from Guam to Singapore for air show, and could not aerial refuel.

On 8 February, 10:30, departed Kadena AB, and returned to Guam.

http://www.rimpeace.or.jp/jrp/okinawa/100206b52land.html
http://www.rimpeace.or.jp/jrp/okinawa/100208b52to.html

June 1996:
B-1.
USAF.
Emergency landed at Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture.
Claimed it was flying to Indonesia for air show.

http://www.rimpeace.or.jp/jrp/okinawa/100206b52land.html

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7 April 2010:
F-15.
18th FW, USAF, based at Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture.
Morning. Dropped fin of AIM-120 simulation training missile into ocean, in training area, 30 to 120 miles [48 to 192 km] east of Okinawa Island.

Lenght, 30.5 cm. Material, aluminum. Shape, triangle. Weight, 450 g. Width, 13 cm.

No known ground or surface property damage.

http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article/2010-04-10_5626/
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20100409-OYT1T00666.htm
http://mainichi.jp/area/okinawa/news/20100409rky00m040001000c.html
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/m20100410k0000e040026000c.html

23 March 2010:
KC-135 of Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture.
KC-130 of MCAS Futenma, Okinawa Prefecture.
13:30, KC-135 rear and KC-130 wing tip collided on taxiway, at Kadena AB.
KC-135 leaked fuel, 35 gallons or 130 litres. Fuel recovered.

Notified nearby communities on 26 March.

From January, MCAS Futenma runway being repaired. All fixed-wing aircraft deployed to Kadena AB, for three months.

http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article/2010-03-27_5024/
http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-159906-storytopic-1.html

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26 April 2010:
F-16C Block 50P. 92-3895. WW.
[Probably 13th FS,] USAF, based at Misawa AB, Aomori Prefecture.
15:57 and 16:02, two F-16 emergency landed at Aomori AP. One F-16 had engine trouble.

Pilot was not wounded.

Sixth US military aircraft emergency landing at Aomori, since a F-16 in 2004 August.

Two of flight of seven.
15:51, during training, 50 km northwest of Aomori AP, engine trouble warning light, and requested emergency landing at Aomori AP. Before landing, loitered in landing course, 1,500 m southwest of Aomori AP.
After landing, because checked runway, civil flight from Toukyou, ETA 16:10, delayed 17 minutes.

http://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/airframe-profile/3788/
http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100426223645.asp
http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100426173730.asp

20 April 2010:
Three F-16.
USAF, based at Misawa AB, Aomori Prefecture.
14:35 and 14:45, emergency landed at Hachinohe JMSDF AB. Fog at Misawa AB.

http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100421094600.asp

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http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100428125054.asp
http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100428092204.asp

2010.04.28:
After 8:00, one of two F-16 refuelled.
9:51, refuelled F-16 took off. Returned to Misawa AB.

Accident F-16 [92-3895] confirmed engine trouble.
After 14:00, mechanics dismounted engine from aircraft, to repair.

http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100429110111.asp

Photo of accident aircraft tail code.

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http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100508131529.asp

2010.05.08:
Colonel John Pierce of 35th FW, USAF, apologises to Aomori AP management, for the USAF F-16 with engine trouble [and missiles!], over-staying at Aomori AP, Aomori Prefecture. May 7 is 12th day.
April 30 to May 3, engine replacement delayed by bad weather. Then, delayed by lack of spare parts.
Work resumes on May 7 afternoon.
Aomori AP demands landing and parking fees. According to Japan-USA agreement, USAF does not pay. JMOD pays.

(At a civilian airport, this F-16 is armed with missiles! Fun.) XD

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http://www.toonippo.co.jp/news_too/nto2010/20100512185243.asp

2010.05.12:
At Aomori AP, Aomori Prefecture, USAF F-16 repaired and departed, for USAF AB at Bu San, ROK.
10:00, prepared to depart.
13:25, took off, in foggy weather.

Missiles were dismounted.

8 December 2010:
SAR helicopter.
USAF, based at Kadena AB, Okinawa Prefecture.
11:45, emergency landed at medevac heliport, Tonaki Island, Tonaki Village, Okinawa Prefecture.
Rotor transmission warning light.
Not member of Japan-USA joint exercise.

No person wounded.

After two and half hours, took off.
Decided as warning light malfunction.

2004 and 2009, SAR helicopter of Kadena AB also emergency landed at Tonaki Island.

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201012/CN2010120801000916.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/disaster/101208/dst1012081941005-n1.htm

(Snore.)