An Air Force helicopter from Yokota Air Base made a controlled emergency landing Saturday at a ski resort near Mount Fuji west of Tokyo, Air Force officials reported.
There were no injuries or damages, officials said.
The four-person crew, aboard a UH-1N helicopter from the 459th Airlift Squadron, noticed engine trouble in one of the aircraft’s two engines around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, according to an Air Force release.
Pilots guided the aircraft onto a Fuji Ten Snow Resort parking lot in Narusawa-mura, in Yamanashi prefecture, without losing control, officials stated.
“At no time was there any danger to property or lives,” according to the release.
Air Force officials said they notified Japan’s government. The aircraft remained at the scene Monday while safety and maintenance personnel investigated the incident and awaited results of safety tests, said 1st Lt. Warren Comer, a spokesman for the 374th Airlift Wing.
“The helicopter will not leave the scene until it is deemed safe and mission-capable,” Comer said.
The UH-1N was returning from an air show at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni when the landing occurred, he said.
The landing was the third such incident U.S. military forces in Japan have reported in the past year.
In August, a Marine Corps CH-53, a much larger aircraft, clipped a university building during an emergency landing on Okinawa, spawning protests against U.S. aircraft.
In February, an Army Black Hawk helicopter from Camp Zama made a precautionary landing in the Kanagawa Prefecture after a warning detector spotted a possible metal chip in the system.
Emergency landings, as opposed to crash landings, allow pilots time to land safely and with control, according to military officials. Pilots fly routes over areas with large, open spaces such as parking lots and sports fields to use in an emergency; they practice emergency landings regularly, military officials have said.
Yokota’s helicopters have flown almost 10,000 hours since 1997 without a major mishap, the release stated, adding that “UH-1s have an exceptional safety record.”