YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A UH-1N helicopter crew assigned to the 459th Airlift Squadron made a precautionary landing Tuesday at Chofu Airfield in Tokyo, Yokota officials said.
The two-member crew, flying a routine transport mission with five passengers aboard, set the helicopter down safely around 4:20 p.m. after an abnormal transmission light indicator popped up in the cockpit, according to a 374th Airlift Wing news release. There were no injuries or damage to the aircraft.
It’s the third incident for a Yokota helicopter in the past three months. On Aug. 19, another UH-1N crew was forced to make a precautionary landing in Yokohama after encountering engine problems. Three weeks ago, a UH-1N team detected a leak in the helicopter’s hydraulic system and had to land on a baseball field near Numazu City in Shizuoka Prefecture.
There are no plans to ground Yokota’s UH-1N for any extended safety inspection, said Capt. David Westover, a 374th Airlift Wing spokesman.
After a thorough inspection Wednesday morning, maintenance crews ran the aircraft briefly on the ground to ensure the transmission was functioning properly, he added. The aircrew flew it back to Yokota in the afternoon.
Since the 459th Airlift Squadron’s inception in 1993, there have been no major incidents involving its aircraft, Westover said. The unit has won the Pacific Air Forces Flight Safety Award the past two years.
