Tuesday’s Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo led with reports saying that according to the Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Bureau, the U.S. military found during post flight inspections at Kadena Air Base on Friday that a part weighing 3.6 kg was missing from an MC130-J special mission aircraft. The papers wrote that the aircraft part was later found on the base and that it could have fallen off either during takeoff or landing. Ryukyu Shimpo wrote that although they asked the U.S. military how and when the part fell off the aircraft and where it was found, they have yet to receive a reply. The paper quoted Okinawa Vice Governor Jahana as saying that this kind of incident causes anxiety for the people of Okinawa.

Okinawa Times wrote that according to the Defense Ministry and the prefectural government, there have been no reports of damage related to the incident. The paper wrote that the prefectural government received an email from the defense bureau at around 9:45 p.m. on Friday saying that it had received “unconfirmed information” from the U.S. Embassy that an aircraft part had fallen either during takeoff or landing. It later received another email from the defense bureau at around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday saying that it received additional information from the Embassy that the part most likely dropped over the water or a U.S.-controlled airfield. The paper wrote that in response to the incident, the mayors of the municipalities hosting Kadena AB expressed concern about the U.S. military’s safety management and the delay in providing information.