2 F-15s land at Futenma amid concern over greater noise and danger+

NAHA, Japan, Sept. 22 Kyodo -
Two F-15 fighter jets from the U.S. Air Force's Kadena Air Base in Okinawa
landed at the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station nearby on Wednesday amid
local concerns over greater noise and danger.
The air force has said its F-15s at Kadena are likely to use Futenma from
October, when Kadena's runways are expected to undergo repair. Wednesday's
flights were part of efforts to ascertain the safety of similar flights in the
future.
The municipal government of Ginowan, which hosts Futenma, and the prefectural
government have expressed concern over an increase in noise and danger once the
fighter jets begin using the Marine facility.
''Definitely, the government of our city cannot accept this,'' Ginowan Mayor
Yoichi Iha said. ''Having Air Force fighters at Futenma only results in
increases in the noise and danger at the airfield where the danger is already
present.''
Iha added that he had demanded that the local defense bureau and Foreign
Ministry office in Okinawa urge the U.S. military forces to stop using Futenma
air station for Air Force fighters during the repair work.
After landing on the Futenma runway on Wednesday morning, the pair of F-15s
taxied to a parking area lined with Marine helicopters and refueling aircraft.
The Futenma base, located in a residential area, is to be returned to Japan
once a replacement facility has been built in a coastal area of Nago on the
same main island under an agreement between Japan and the United States.
But the people of Okinawa, which shoulders the bulk of U.S. military facilities
in Japan, are calling for moving Futenma out of the island prefecture, leaving
the project's future uncertain.
==Kyodo
2010-09-22 21:48:37