Metal Water Bottle Falls From US Marine Osprey Plane Into Settlement In Okinawa, Tokyo Call Washington Direct

United States Marines' V-22 Osprey illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Steve Lynes)

JAKARTA - A stainless steel water bottle fell from a high-wing tiltrotor aircraft V-22 Osprey belonging to the United States Marines, into a residential area in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

The incident where a stainless steel water bottle fell from a US military aircraft near the entrance to a resident's residence in Ginowan, Okinawa prompted Tokyo to immediately contact Washington, calling for preventive safety measures.

"This should not have happened, because (an incident like this) makes people in the area worried," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference, quoted by Kyodo News on November 25.

Matsuno said the government requested the rapid sharing of information and the thorough implementation of aircraft safety management by US forces.

Meanwhile, the US Marines said the bottle fell from a tilt-rotor transport plane as it took off from US Marines Futenma Air Base in Ginowan at around 6:45 p.m. last Tuesday, adding they would investigate to find out what really happened.

Separately, local authorities said they received information about the incident late Tuesday, finding the bottle measuring 25 centimeters long and 13 centimeters wide in a residential area near the town hall the following day.

Authorities also said there were no reports of injuries or property damage as a result of this incident.

To note, since the US Marine Corps Air Base Futenma, located in the densely populated area of Ginowan, is plagued with security concerns, Matsuno reiterated the central government's stance, the plan to transfer the function of the air base to a less densely populated coastal area of Nago is the only solution to eliminate danger.