Outgoing mail waits to be processed at Camp Foster, Okinawa, Dec. 12, 2017. (Kelcey Seymour/U.S. Marine Corps)
TOKYO — Mail sent home by Marines on Okinawa will take a little longer to arrive while Japanese officials investigate the cause of a fiery collision at a major airport.
Five of six crewmembers aboard a Japan coast guard plane died Tuesday when it was struck by a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 on a runway at Haneda Airport. All 379 people on the passenger jet evacuated safely before the plane was engulfed in flames.
Marines may experience mail delays due to the accident, according to a statement provided Thursday to Stars and Stripes by Postal Director Marine Corps Installation Pacific — Marine Corps Base Camp Butler.
The organization supports mail services for Marines on Okinawa.
“We are currently working to establish alternate routes of travel,” the statement said. “Updates will be provided when we have them. Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.”
Outgoing mail could take an extra 24 hours to arrive at its destination, according to Second Lt. Kelsey Enslow, a spokesperson for Marine Corps Installations Pacific at Camp Butler.
“Outgoing mail that would normally go through Haneda is being routed through Narita as the investigation continues to have impacts on available runways at Haneda,” she said by email Friday.
Once the investigation is complete, the Marines expect normal mail routing to resume, she said.
“This delay is only affecting some outgoing mail based on priority and destination and is not affecting incoming mail or packages,” she said.
Mail sent from U.S. military bases in other parts of Japan isn’t impacted, Yokosuka Naval Base spokesman Randall Baucom said by phone Friday.
“I have talked to the leadership at Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center Yokosuka, who operate the Fleet Mail Center in Yokohama,” he wrote in an email that day. “At this time, mail operations for installations in the Honshu region are not expected to be see delays.”
