An F-22A Raptor takes off at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Oct. 10, 2024. (Luis E. Rios Calderon/U.S. Air Force)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — An Air Force F-22A Raptor made an emergency landing at Kadena Air Base over the weekend, according to a local newspaper.
The $350 million stealth fighter, deployed to the base on a rotational basis, landed around 2 p.m. Sunday, the Ryukyu Shimpo reported, citing a photo and unnamed witnesses.
The aircraft was returning after participating in routine training that began Wednesday and is scheduled to continue through Thursday, the report said.
Firefighters inspected the aircraft before it was towed to the tarmac, according to the newspaper.
The spokeswoman for Kadena’s 18th Wing, Maj. Alli Stormer, declined to confirm the incident in an email Monday but said “precautionary landings are standard procedure when pilots notice something out of the ordinary with their aircraft.”
“We are committed to conducting safe flight operations as we uphold our defense commitments,” she wrote.
The Air Force has rotated advanced warplanes through Kadena since December 2022, when it announced a plan to replace 48 legacy F-15s stationed on Okinawa. Kadena, situated northeast of Taiwan at the eastern edge of the East China Sea, is sometimes called the “keystone of the Pacific” because of its strategic location.
In July, the Air Force announced it would permanently deploy 36 F-15EX Eagles to Okinawa as part of a broader plan to station advanced fighter aircraft across Japan over the next several years.
Currently, F-35A Lightning IIs from the 34th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah; F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.; and F-22A Raptors from the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, are deployed at Kadena, Stormer wrote.
As of Nov. 26, 14 Fighting Falcons, 11 Raptors, 12 Lightning IIs and 10 F-15s were stationed at Kadena, according to a visual inspection by Okinawa Defense Bureau staff, a spokesman for Japan’s Ministry of Defense wrote in an email.
Some Japanese officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.
Sunday’s landing follows other recent mishaps involving Raptors at Kadena.
On Oct. 18, two Raptors experienced tire issues: one had “two tire failures” while landing, and another had a “tire malfunction prior to takeoff,” according to the 18th Wing.
Earlier in October, another Raptor made a precautionary landing, following a similar incident in September involving a Raptor deployed from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
No injuries or runway damage were reported in those incidents, the wing said.
Stars and Stripes reporter Keishi Koja contributed to this report.
