“After receiving a cockpit warning indication, the pilot acted in accordance with standard operating procedures to land the aircraft,” US Marine spokeswoman Karoline Foote told Stars and Stripes, a US military news outlet. The F/A-18 was en route to a Marine air base at Iwakuni after taking off from Alaska, Foote noted, adding that the emergency landing took place on Tuesday. There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident, the US spokeswoman said.
Matsushima is about 525 miles (843 kilometers) from Iwakuni.
The plane will stay in Matsushima for repairs, officials said, where American mechanics will have a look at the jet’s engine. The two other Super Hornets finished their trip to Iwakuni.
Meanwhile, a US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey had to make another unexpected early landing in northeast Japan on Tuesday night when a similar warning appeared on the pilot’s dashboard, the Japan Times noted on Wednesday.
The Japanese public has not been pleased with the constant presence of US forces and fighter jets in various positions throughout the island nation. Citizens worry about the sketchy safety histories of US-made planes as well as the noise pollution caused by their missions over the country.
“It’s extremely deplorable we’ve seen these things occur one after another,” Kiichiro Jahana of the Okinawa Prefecture government told reporters following a separate precautionary landing in June.
