MCAS Futenma 2018 air traffic survey results show that established flight path deviations are becoming the norm

MCAS Futenma 2018 air traffic survey results show that established flight path deviations are becoming the norm

Flight paths of U.S. aircraft flying out of MCAS Futenma – August 9, Okinawa Defense Bureau


August 10, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

(Chubu) The Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) began their 2018 inspection of a survey that tracks the flightpaths of U.S. military aircraft in the area around MCAS Futenma on August 9, run out of the ODB offices in Kadena.

After the U.S. military helicopter crash at Okinawa International University in 2004, Japan and the U.S. revised the flight plans for aircraft in 2007, plotting courses that avoided flying over civilian areas as much as possible.

The results of this year’s survey showed flight’s that strayed far off flight plans, indicating that deviations from the flight plans had become normalized.

The survey used a high-elevation camera to measure aircraft such as rotorcraft flying in the area around MCAS Futenma and construct a flight map, creating month-by-month snapshots of air traffic.

According to the results of the survey, in June of this year, the CH-53E helicopter that dropped rubber tape onto Uranishi Junior High School in Urasoe was flying over civilian airspace, and that this was a common flight path for U.S. aircraft.

Meanwhile, the ODB has established that factors such as weather can cause air craft to change course, stating, “This year’s survey results do not necessarily suggest that the U.S. military is failing to adhere to the established flight paths.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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