Japanese Police Investigators Blame Fuel Starvation

All four US Airmen aboard a Cessna 172 walked away from a forced landing Friday night on Okinawa, Japan.

The Associated Press reports that during a private flight the plane made an emergency landing in a sugarcane field near Nago City and burst into flames upon impact. Apparently, the plane clipped a power line in the accident, as hundreds of homes in the area were left without electricity.

Okinawa police spokesman Hideki Taira said the pilot was identified only as a 45-year-old Airman from nearby Kadena Air Base. The pilot suffered a broken jaw in the crash, while the other three Airmen were unharmed.

The men were interviewed Saturday to shed light into the cause of the crash, Taira said. Police investigators speculated the plane ran out of fuel on its return to the Air Base.

Somewhat differing US Air Force reports said the government-owned Cessna from the Kadena Air Base Aero Club was returning from the Amami-Oshima Airport in Kagoshima Prefecture where they had refueled, adding that the four crewmembers were transported to the US Navy Hospital at Camp Lester, where they are being treated.

The incident is under investigation by the Air Force in cooperation with the Okinawa Defense Bureau and Director of Crisis Management Office.

FMI: www.kadena.af.mil