F-16 reports problem, drops unarmed
missile, fuel tanks into field near Misawa
By Wayne Specht, Misawa
bureau chief
By Wayne Specht / Stars and Stripes
An Air Force security policeman from Misawa Air Base, Japan, talks to a Misawa fireman
near a crater formed after a portion of a fuel tank jettisoned from a F-16CJ fighter
aircraft landed in a farm field. |
MISAWA, Japan — An Air Force F-16 pilot intentionally dropped an unarmed missile
and two fuel tanks into a farmer’s field Thursday after reporting a problem with his
aircraft.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. Air Force personnel from Misawa Air Base found the
Maverick training missile a few hours later.
No injuries were reported.
"The pilot was on a training mission and experienced an in-flight emergency,"
said Air Force Capt. Tonya Summerall, a 35th Fighter Wing spokeswoman.
The problem surfaced immediately after takeoff and the pilot had to return to the base,
she said.
An Air Force investigative board will analyze the incident.
Shortly before the pilot reported dropping the tanks, base officials were monitoring a
possible engine fire reported by the F-16 pilot.
Several large pieces of fuel tank wreckage landed in a recently harvested turnip field
in the farming community of Itsukawame, about 2 miles northeast of the air base.
One tank portion burrowed about 2 feet into the earth creating a crater 6- to 8-feet
wide.
Other wreckage came to rest about 300 feet from the cratered area in the shadow of pine
trees.
"Before jettisoning, the pilot looked for an unpopulated area to make sure no one
would be injured on the ground and no property would be damaged," Air Force Col.
Edward Madden, 35th Fighter Wing vice commander, said Friday.
"We sincerely regret that yesterday’s incident may have disrupted the lives
of some members of the Misawa community. We understand that the incident has created
anxiety with the Misawa City citizens."
Air Force security forces guarded the wreckage until crash-recovery and explosive
ordnance-disposal specialists from the base arrived at 3:45 p.m.
There was no evidence of a fire caused by the impact.
A Japanese newspaper reported a woman working in a nearby field said she heard unusual
sounds coming from a formation of three F-16s flying overhead.
She said she looked up to see objects dropping from one of the aircraft, and was quoted
as saying she may have witnessed some flames coming from one of the aircraft.
Base officials estimated about 500 gallons of jet fuel remained in the tanks.
Each tank can hold 370 gallons of fuel.
About 25 homes are one-quarter mile directly east of where the tank portions landed. A
Japanese elementary school sits about a half-mile to the northeast.
Madden paid a courtesy call to city hall 4 p.m. to brief Misawa Vice Mayor Zensaku
Tomita about the mishap.
Misawa Mayor Shigeyoshi Suzuki visited the area Friday morning.
"I’m astonished," he told reporters. "It would have been a disaster
if this happened over a residential area."
In 1999, Itsukawame community leaders asked Japanese government officials to move
residents from the area because of persistent noise from fighter aircraft.
The community is near the flight path used by U.S. and Japanese aircraft heading to the
Ripsaw bombing range, 14 miles north of the base.
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