Japanese Self Defence Force Aircraft Forced to Make Emergency Landing After Window Glitch

Tokyo: A Japanese defence aircraft carrying eight people made an emergency landing at a commercial airport in central Japan Thursday after a cockpit window inadvertently slid open during its training flight, officials said. No damage or injuries were reported. The Japan Air Self-Defence Force said its C-2 transport aircraft experienced the window glitch Thursday afternoon after taking off from the Iruma Air Base north of Tokyo for a training flight.

The incident caused the pilot to request an emergency landing at the nearby Niigata airport, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of the air base.

The aircraft landed safely and there was no damage or injury from the mishap, officials said. The JASDF said the roughly 20-inch square window on the left side of the cockpit, which is designed to slide open only manually, did not fall off the aircraft.

The C-2 remained at the airport to be examined by air force officials to determine the cause of the problem, officials said.

The airport was briefly closed due to the emergency landing but has since resumed operation.

In April, two Japanese navy SH-60K Seahawk helicopters crashed in the Pacific south of Tokyo after colliding during night-time anti-submarine warfare training drills, killing one and leaving seven other crewmembers and the fuselages still missing.