A U.S. Navy E/A-18G Growler with Electronic Attack Squadron 141, Carrier Air Wing 5, lands at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Nov. 17, 2024. (David Getz/U.S. Marine Corps)

Several U.S. Navy aircraft were diverted to other airfields in Japan on Wednesday after an E/A-18G Growler made a precautionary arrested landing that temporarily closed the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, according to the Marine Corps.

The runway was shut down around noon for about 30 minutes to recover the Growler, which is assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 141, Carrier Air Wing 5, base spokesman Maj. Gerard Farao said in an email Wednesday.

He did not provide details on what prompted the Growler pilot to make the precautionary landing.

The closure forced “multiple U.S. Navy aircraft to divert to refuel,” he said, without specifying how many planes were affected.

Some aircraft landed at Matsuyama Airport in Ehime prefecture on Shikoku, while others touched down at Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu, Farao said.

Two F-35 Lightning II fighters landed at Matsuyama Airport at 12:03 p.m. after the runway closure, according to a spokesman for the Chugoku-Shikoku Defense Bureau.

The airport was notified at 11:55 a.m. that the aircraft needed to land because they were low on fuel, a spokesman for the airport’s office said by phone. As of 2:15 p.m., the airport was still determining whether it could refuel the jets, he said.

Four F-35s and one F-18 Hornet landed at Nyutabaru Air Base between 12:10 and 12:30 p.m., a spokesman for the Kyushu Defense Bureau, part of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, said by phone. They all left the base by around 2:15p.m.

An arrested landing — a routine maneuver on aircraft carriers — occurs when a plane’s tailhook snags one of several cables on the deck, bringing it to a rapid stop.

The procedure is also performed at MCAS Iwakuni when necessary, Farao said by phone Wednesday. Closing the runway for an arrested landing is “routine,” he added.

Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.