KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — An HH-60 helicopter assigned to the 33rd Rescue Squadron at Kadena Air Base made a precautionary landing Monday on Tonaki Island after the aircraft experienced a fuel imbalance, according to a news release Tuesday.

The helicopter landed on a helipad at Tonaki Island — about 36 miles west of Naha — where it was grounded for four hours before returning to Kadena Air Base, Air Force Lt. Col. Pete Oertel, deputy commander for the 18th Operations Group, said in the release.

The air crew and a second Kadena helicopter were participating in a training mission when a fuel imbalance between the helo’s two fuel tanks was discovered, Oertel said.

No one in the four-member crew was injured. The second helicopter was able to pick up maintenance personnel, parts and equipment from Kadena and return to fix the problem, Oertel said.

Tonaki Mayor Noboru Uehara said he plans to file complaints with Tokyo government agencies next week regarding the U.S. military using airspace around the island, according to spokesman Makoto Toguchi, chief of the Welfare Division office.

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