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| AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopter |
IKEI ISLAND, Japan (Kyodo) -- A U.S. Marine helicopter on Saturday departed the small island in Okinawa where it had made an emergency landing the previous evening.
The AH-1 attack helicopter, from the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on the adjacent main island of Okinawa, was forced into a landing on a small rural road after apparently experiencing mechanical trouble.
Speaking to reporters on the Ikei Island on Saturday, Kiichiro Jahana, head of the Okinawa governor's office, expressed displeasure over the second such landing in Okinawa involving a U.S. aircraft in just over a month.
AN MV-22 Osprey aircraft from the same Marine base crash-landed in shallow coastal waters off the main island last month, reigniting safety concerns about the tilt-rotor aircraft among the people of Okinawa.
Read the full story at The Mainichi