5 Ospreys fly from Yokohama dock to US Yokota Air Base for deployment

YOKOHAMA -- Five newly arrived U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey transport aircraft flew from a dock here just after 11 a.m. on April 5 and arrived at U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo within about 30 minutes.

This marks the first time that Ospreys will be deployed outside of Okinawa Prefecture, with the full deployment expected to be concluded by the summer.

The U.S. forces in Japan announced on April 3 a plan to deploy Ospreys at the Yokota Air Base ahead of schedule. On April 4, five Ospreys were unloaded from a large ship at the dock and underwent inspections before they flew to Yokota.

U.S. forces' Ospreys have been involved in several accidents, including one incident where a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey belonging to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture crash-landed in the sea just off the coast of the prefectural city of Nago in 2016.

Commenting on April 3 on the deployment of the Ospreys to Yokota Base, the defense and foreign ministries said, "Japan and the U.S. will cooperate to minimize the influence on local residents, while giving maximum consideration to safety." (Japanese original by Kazuhiko Hori, Yokohama Bureau)