Japanese protests ground
U.S. copters after crash

An accident involving a Kaneohe
squadron generates controversy

TOKYO >> The U.S. military has temporarily grounded a Marine helicopter model that crashed earlier this month, the American Embassy in Japan said yesterday, after continued flights by the aircraft brought protests from the Japanese government.

The move reverses the U.S. military's decision to resume CH-53D flights in Japan following an Aug. 13 accident, in which a helicopter from Kaneohe's Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 crashed at a university campus near Futenma Air Station in Okinawa.

Japan's foreign minister protested to Secretary of State Colin Powell that flights resumed without an explanation of the cause of the crash.

The U.S. Embassy said the suspension of CH-53D flights would hold "until it is appropriate" to lift it. An embassy official called the action "unusual but not unprecedented."

"The U.S. government fully appreciates the concern over the safe operation of these and all other U.S. military aircraft in Japan and will work closely with Japanese officials," the embassy statement said.

The Aug. 13 accident occurred when the helicopter, on a training mission, grazed a building at Okinawa International University in Ginowan City, before hitting the ground and catching fire. The three crew were injured, but no one was hurt on the ground.

The crash renewed calls by residents for the air base to be moved to a less congested area.

U.S. Marines spokesman Lt. Eric Tausch said five CH-53Ds remain at Futemna Air Station on Okinawa island, after six others took off from the base for a deployment on Aug. 22 -- the first flights since the crash.

So far, U.S. investigators believe a component in the helicopter's tail rotor assembly was missing, leading to the aircraft's loss of control. The problem was specific to that particular helicopter, and posed no further threat to safety, the military has said.

Japanese officials and Okinawa residents protested the U.S. military's monopoly over the crash investigation. Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi told Powell Tokyo wants a joint investigation.

An official from the Third Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa said Friday that a bilateral agreement covering the U.S. military in Japan allowed the United States to deny local police the access they requested to the crash site for a criminal investigation.

The U.S. military has said its probe, which started the day after the accident, should take about 30 days to complete. Tokyo will be given a copy of the final investigation report and be briefed on new measures to prevent a recurrence of the crash, the embassy said.