U.S. Navy helicopter crash-lands in Kanagawa

I commend the pilot for taking evasive action and hope for the quick recovery of the injured crew members.

Glad everyone's ok.

I have to believe that under the current regional circumstances, the general populace will be a little less anxious to complain about the U.S. military bases. We'll see.

Aircraft sometimes crash. Luckily no one onboard or on the ground were killed. And I'm sure the people of Japan and Okinawa have had a change of heart with regards to US forces in Japan now that China is breathing down their necks. And yes, if the US Forces weren't here, the Chinese would have already taken the Senkaku Islands by force.

Dennis BauerDec. 17, 2013 - 09:20AM JST Well at least it is not an Osprey, or is this type of Helicopter now also a "Nono"?

Japan will be flying their own Ospreys before you know it.

WAIT! WHAT? I thought only the Osprey crashed! You mean the 10000000000 of other aircraft in the sky can crash all the same too?

@Kwatt: Why the US Forces remain in Japan and since when and for how long wasn't the point I'm talking about. My point was that their presence has acted as a 'DETERRENT' against any armed aggression against Japan. And as to whether the US has some agenda for keeping forces here, again, is not the point I'm talking about.

Thank you very much.

Is Japan a sovereign state as the Abe administration wants to think

Investigation about crushed armed aircraft isn't made by police but by special commisions which determine the cause. Yes, Japan is a sovereign state. It's good that this kind of things are normalized in legal documents.

A good landing is one from which everybody can walk away. An excellent landing is one after which you can reuse the aircraft. This landing was almost a good one.

@kwatt: You missed the entire point of my post which was the only reason why China hasn't taken the islands by force is because of the US presence in Japan which could easily repel any attempted occupation of the islands by Chinese forces. If the US forces weren't present, the Chinese would have occupied the islands by now and Japan could do little about it except to squawk to the impotent UN. That's why China is throwing words and not handgrenades cause they aren't ready to get into any conflict if the USA has got Japan's back...and for that the Japanese and Okinawans should be very grateful.

Good job to the pilots for the controlled crash with no fatalities.

Unfortunate accident, minimal injury and if deliberate, a good job on bring her down in an open vacant area. Being so close to Atsugi and Yokosuka doubt this will cause the kind of uproar that incidents in Okinawa have in the past.

Voiceofokinawa, a lot of time has passed since 2006 and various adjustments have been made since then. You will not see the cordoned-off no-access to J-police kind of scenario now.

@Voiceofokinawa,

a lot of time has passed since 2006 and various adjustments have been made since then. You will not see the cordoned-off no-access to J-police kind of scenario now.

Perhaps you are forgetting the helicopter crash in Okinawa last August that resulted in my town being a no fly zone for any non american planes.

A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed near Tokyo Monday in a failed emergency landing in Kanagawa Prefecture, injuring two of the four men on board, rescuers said.

Well THIS sentence is false. The fact that no one died means this was a 100% successful emergency landing.

One crew member told local authorities that the helicopter experienced a transmission problem, national broadcaster NHK said.

Transmission problems are the bane of helicopters. There's reduction gearing reducing the RPM of the jet engines down to the speed the rotors need to move at, as well as the transmission of power back to the anti-torque rotor on the tail. That's a lot of gearing that can fail.

I'm interested to see how the U.S. military and the Japanese authorities will deal with this accident. It seems there's a SECRET agreement between Japan and the U.S. that primary right to the investigation of such accidents rests with the U.S. side.

It didn't take long for the conspiracy theorists to crawl out from under the woodwork. There's no "secret" agreement - it's completely out in the open. The U.S. military is the prime investigator for all crashes of U.S. military aircraft. Just like the JASDF would be the prime investigator for JASDF crashes.

"WWII ended in 1945"

But the Korean War has not ended.

Well at least it is not an Osprey, or is this type of Helicopter now also a "Nono"?

if the US Forces weren't here, the Chinese would have already taken the Senkaku Islands by force.

The US forces have been here all over Japan for many years before the dispute claimed by China. It seems that all US bases don't want to leave because there is the most strategical national interest of the US there. If there were none of it, they would have gone already a long time ago.

My point was that their presence has acted as a 'DETERRENT'

The deterrent will really make a lot of businesses and money. That is why the US forces remains to protect. If the US thinks Japan is no longer profitable for the US, they would leave. America thinks money is everything, So no money is no deterrent for the country. Actually the US forces already left from countries in Europe, Middle East and others. That is always the US government's interest. Most Japanese don't appreciate it very much but except government.

@kwatt: You missed the entire point of my post which was the only reason why China hasn't taken the islands by force is because of the US presence in Japan which could easily repel any attempted occupation of the islands by Chinese forces

Actually, the Japanese, with the second strongest Navy in the world, which is ridiculously more advanced than the Chinese navy, acts as enough of a deterrent on its own. At the current state of military readiness, the Chinese have zero chance against Japan's self-defense forces. The Americans are just a further deterrent.

Congratulations! Perhaps more crashes are in store.

I am so glad nobody was killed.

We can replace the hardware, but we cannot replace their lives if they are lost.

They give so much to progect Freedom and Democracy anywhere in the world.

Bravo Zulu to the Pilot and Crew for making a heroic landing and I hope a speedy recovery for everyone!

What "...mangled propellers..". Are you implying an Osprey crashed? Helicopters don't have propellers, they are equipped with rotor blades.

Fadamor　(Dec. 17, 2013 - 10:45PM JST):

Of course, "The U.S. military is the prime investigator for all crashes of U.S. military aircraft," as you say. I agree.

The problem is if the U.S. military, the post-war occupation forces-turned USFJ, can cordon off the crash site in a civilian district, prohibiting the Japanese police and firefighters from getting access to the site. That's what happened in the case of the CH-53 helicopter crash in 2006 on the campus of Okinawa Kokusai U.

aussie-musashi said: There`s a simple expedient, get rid of all US bases from Japan.

Ok sure, then you'd better start brushing up on your Chinese Language skills, if you are living in Japan, mate! LOL!

voiceofokinawa: aussie-musashi

Take all the U.S bases out of Japan....then what.

Please let us know what would happen next. No one ever has a plan(or a thought) about that.

iradickle (Dec. 20, 2013 - 04:24PM JST):

So you want us to continue suffering under the U.S. occupation forever.

Japan is not an American colony, is it?

Why do we have to house the US military?

WWII ended in 1945.

The world is no longer in Saving Private Ryan era of 1945. If there is aggression toward Japan, no one will waste their fuel and time for sending Marines for landing on shore. NK has already flied over rocket over Okinawa. It has demonstrated they have little concern over base.

By having US personnel in Japan, an attack against Japan guarantees and legitimizes US involvement due to the American loss of life. It's probably a greater guarantee of US commitment than any treaty. Same situation in SK.

My point was that their presence has acted as a 'DETERRENT' against any armed aggression against Japan.

The world is no longer in Saving Private Ryan era of 1945. If there is aggression toward Japan, no one will waste their fuel and time for sending Marines for landing on shore. NK has already flied over rocket over Okinawa. It has demonstrated they have little concern over base.

Instead of accommodating base on Okinawa, investing for anti missile system and computer viruses is more reasonable for modern world.

The Chronic (Dec. 20, 2013 - 10:49AM JST):

To you, there seems to be no other possibility than a choice between two things: either the U.S. or Chinese occupation. But the U.S. occupation is a hard reality that is going on now and the Chinese one you talk about is a mere hypothesis that may or may not come true.

Any way, we want neither of them!

Choronic

You are talking about hypothetical theory that is "If the US forces were not present", However the US forces are actually there for damn decades years whatever you say. That is realistic. And the US forces will never leave there whatever happened because probably they don't to be called "chicken or coward". That is realistic. There is rather the important national interest of the US there. If none of national interest, why the US keep staying there for nothing profitable?

Okinawa is shooting ground for Base. Okinawa is cemetery for helicopters. Environment has been ruined. Pilots have been disabled or rest in peace.It is the same old boring story.

Just one more reason to end the occupation.

There`s a simple expedient, get rid of all US bases from Japan

I'm interested to see how the U.S. military and the Japanese authorities will deal with this accident. It seems there's a SECRET agreement between Japan and the U.S. that primary right to the investigation of such accidents rests with the U.S. side.

It is probably because of this that when a helicopter crashed on the campus of Kokusai U. at Ginowan City, Okinawa in August 2006, the Marines cordoned off the crash site completely and carried away every piece of the crashed helicopter, allowing the Japanese police to investigate the accident only after that.

Is Japan a sovereign state as the Abe administration wants to think, celebrating with fanfare the day the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed but concurrently with the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty?