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Govt suspends Osprey aircraft deployment
Jiji Press
The government has decided to suspend procedures to deploy the U.S. MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft in the country until the cause and other details of a recent crash of a CV-22 Osprey aircraft, a remodeled version of the MV-22, are available.
Also behind the decision is increasing opposition to the Osprey deployment among people in Okinawa Prefecture following the latest crash of the CV-22 plane.
The accident occurred in Florida during a routine drill on Wednesday night, injuring five crew members on board.
It now looks certain the CV-22 crash will cause a delay in the Japan-U.S. plan to deploy the MV-22 aircraft to the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture,
after a temporary deployment to the marine base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in July.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said at a press conference Thursday that Tokyo has asked the United States to investigate the details of the crash as quickly as possible.
"The Japanese government will take no further action [on the Osprey deployment] unless details [of the crash] are shared," he added.
In talks with U.S. Ambassador John Roos, Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto said, "The accident is very regrettable, and I hope the United States will provide as much information as possible about the incident."
The crash in Florida came on the heels of a series of accidents involving the Osprey aircraft, including a fatal crash in Morocco in April.
Noting the accident rate is very high for the Osprey, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters, "The aircraft cannot be deployed in Okinawa."
Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima also reiterated his stance against the deployment, saying the latest accident fueled his opposition.
On Sunday, Ginowan is slated to hold a rally against the deployment.
Yamaguchi Gov. Sekinari Nii told Morimoto at their meeting in Tokyo that he wants the planned temporary MV-22 Osprey deployment at the Iwakuni base to be "shelved until the cause of the accident is fully investigated."
The city of Iwakuni is also withholding its response to the central government's request for cooperation in the temporary deployment plan.
Given the growing anxieties over the MV-22 Osprey deployment among the local communities concerned, Fujimura said,
"The government is well aware of local concerns about the safety of the aircraft and will try to sincerely explain the situation, including details of the latest accident."
(Jun. 16, 2012)
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