TOKYO: The US military’s Yokota Air Base in a western suburb of Tokyo was opened to the public in an event that began Saturday, with an Air Force CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft among exhibits.

Visitors to the Japan-American Friendship Festival, set to run through Sunday, formed a long line to see the aircraft.

In November last year, a US Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed off the island of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, killing all eight people on board.

All Ospreys deployed around the world were grounded in the wake of the accident. The flight ban was lifted in March, and operations have restarted for MV-22 Ospreys deployed at the US Marine Corps’ Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, but not for CV-22 Ospreys at the Yokota base.

Col. Andrew Roddan, commander at the Yokota base, told reporters Saturday that the U.S. military is working very carefully to restart operations of the CV-22 Ospreys.

Flight resumption for the Yokota base’s Ospreys will be determined at an appropriate time, he also said.

Initially, the US military considered a plan for a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey to fly to the Yokota base for static display at the festival. But municipalities around the Yokota base called on the US side on Wednesday to cancel the plan, saying that local residents will feel uneasy if they see an Osprey fly to the Yokota base although the base keeps its Ospreys grounded.

A US military official denied that the change was due to the request from the local governments. The lineup of aircraft showcased could be changed at any time because of factors related to their operations, the official added.

Also on display at the event are an F-22 stealth fighter of the U.S. Air Force and aircraft of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

JIJI Press