ASDF F-35A Fighter Makes Emergency Landing at Hakodate Airport

Tokyo, Dec. 8 (Jiji Press)--An F-35A state-of-the-art stealth fighter of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force made an emergency landing at Hakodate Airport in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido around 12:20 p.m. Wednesday (3:20 a.m. GMT).

The ASDF is looking into details of the incident, believing that something wrong happened with the body of the fighter during a training flight. The F-35A belongs to the ASDF's Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

According to the ASDF, the F-35A left the Misawa base around 11:15 a.m. The fighter made the emergency landing after its body suffered some sort of problem while the plane was flying over the Sea of Japan, at a point some 190 kilometers west of the base, around 11:58 a.m.

Another aircraft flying in formation with the F-35A also landed at Hakodate Airport, shortly before 1 p.m. No injuries have been confirmed among the pilots of the planes or others.

Hakodate Airport temporarily closed its runway due to the F-35A emergency landing, according to the office of the airport. The runway was reopened for use shortly after 12:30 p.m., but the departure of one flight was delayed for about 30 minutes.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]