NAHA - A Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet tilted to one side and came to a stop while landing at Naha Airport on August 18, forcing the closure of one of the airport's two runways and causing delays of more than an hour for some arriving commercial flights.
According to the transport ministry's Naha Airport office, the incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. on Runway B when the F-15 was landing.
Government officials said the aircraft was a single-seat model carrying one pilot, who escaped from the fighter without injury. No other injuries were reported.
Runway B was closed shortly before 1 p.m., raising concerns about disruption to commercial aircraft using the airport. As of 3 p.m., arriving flights were experiencing delays of up to about one hour and 10 minutes.
No commercial passenger aircraft were attempting to land on the runway at the time of the incident, and no other damage was reported.
Live footage from around 4 p.m. showed personnel from the neighboring Air Self-Defense Force base preparing to lift the disabled aircraft with a crane and place it on a transport vehicle.
The fighter had landed from the southern side of the runway before coming to rest facing in the opposite direction. Personnel were seen attaching crane hooks to the aircraft as preparations continued for its removal and a detailed investigation into the cause of the incident.
Naha Airport is jointly used by civilian aircraft and units of Japan's Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces.
The airport operated for many years with a single runway before a second runway, known as Runway B, was constructed on reclaimed land offshore. The second runway is used as part of efforts to ease congestion and accommodate operations depending on wind direction and traffic conditions.
The aircraft involved is believed to belong to the Air Self-Defense Force's 304th Tactical Fighter Squadron, part of the 9th Air Wing stationed at Naha.
Aircraft operated by the squadron carry a tengu emblem and the unit is commonly known as the Tengu Warriors. The squadron operates F-15 fighters and training aircraft and is one of Japan's leading units responsible for emergency scrambles in response to suspected violations of Japanese airspace.
The F-15 is operated in both single-seat and two-seat versions, and the 304th Squadron uses both types. The aircraft involved in the August 18 incident was a single-seat fighter.
Footage of the aircraft after it stopped showed no visible signs of fire around the engines at the rear of the plane.
The fighter was also carrying an external fuel tank beneath the aircraft. F-15s use such additional tanks when flying longer distances, and they may be jettisoned if an emergency landing creates a risk of fire.
The fact that the aircraft landed with the external tank still attached suggested there may not have been a serious problem requiring it to be discarded before touchdown.
Footage of the landing showed what appeared to be dust rising from the runway as the aircraft touched down.
While the transport ministry had not announced a detailed cause, attention was focusing on the possibility that part of the landing gear beneath the left wing failed for an unknown reason when the fighter's wheels made contact with the runway.
Aircraft landing gear is designed to withstand extremely high loads during takeoff and landing, and investigators are expected to examine closely whether a failure in that area caused the aircraft to tilt.
The incident occurred about 2.5 kilometers from the airport's main civilian buildings and areas used by commercial aircraft, and no major secondary damage was reported.
Authorities are expected to investigate the cause of the landing incident, including why the aircraft's landing gear or other components may have failed at an airport shared extensively by both military and civilian operations.
Source: FNN
