U.S. military parachute falls onto children’s center in Tokyo suburbs

A parachute used by a U.S. military personnel during a training exercise at Yokota Air Base in November fell onto the grounds of a nearby children’s community center in Fussa, western Tokyo, city officials said Tuesday.

The city plans to protest to both the U.S. military and the Japanese government. No injuries to residents were reported.

According to the Fussa municipal government and the Defense Ministry’s North Kanto Defense Bureau, strong winds blew the main parachute and a pilot chute off course after the U.S. military personnel detached them during the training exercise on Nov 20.

The main parachute landed on the playground of the children’s center, about 100 meters from the base, and U.S. military personnel retrieved it that night without obtaining permission from the city.

On Dec 1, a staff member at the children’s center found the pilot chute on the facility’s rooftop, which was then retrieved by city officials.

The U.S. military personnel who performed the jump had landed inside the base using a reserve parachute, the officials said.

The parachute drop exercise had only just resumed on Nov 20, after being temporarily suspended when a U.S. military personnel landed outside the base in the adjacent city of Hamura, also in western Tokyo, two days earlier.