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U.S F-15 Fighter Jet Crashes Into Sea Off Okinawa; Pilot Rescued

  • Category:Event
TOKYO - A U.S. military F15 fighter jet crashed in waters off Okinawa during a routine training mission on Monday, U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement.

The pilot, the only person in the aircraft, ejected successfully and was recovered by search and rescue crews, the statement said. A board of officers would investigate the incident, it said.

The accident occurred at around 6:40 a.m. about 80 kilometers south of Naha, local media reported.

Many residents of Okinawa associate the U.S. military bases with crime, accidents and pollution and want them moved off the island. A series of emergency landings and parts falling from U.S. military aircraft have highlighted safety concerns.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is moving ahead with a contentious plan to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma airbase from an urban area in central Okinawa to the less populated Henoko district of Nago city in the island's north.



© Thomson Reuters 2018.
 

 

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