TOKYO, Oct 5 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s transport ministry has instructed checks for unexploded shells at three domestic airports, on top of Miyazaki Airport, where a World War II U.S. bomb exploded on Wednesday.
Transport Minister, Tetsuo Saito, said yesterday that, the three are Sendai Airport in the north-eastern prefecture of Miyagi, Fukuoka Airport in the south-western prefecture of Fukuoka, and Naha Airport, in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, which were built in areas where the now-defunct Imperial Japanese military had air bases.
On Wednesday, a 250-kg bomb, dropped by the U.S. military during the war, exploded at Miyazaki Airport, in south-western Japan, leaving asphalt fragments scattered over a radius of some 200 metres, including the runway. An aircraft had passed close to the site two minutes before, but no one was injured.
“This is something that could affect the safety of flights,” said Saito at a press conference.
The ministry will conduct a magnetic survey around the taxiway in addition to the airport’s runway and apron, from Monday at the earliest. The survey will not affect flight schedules, it said.
Besides Miyazaki Airport, unexploded bombs have already been found at the three airports. At Naha Airport, in particular, as many as eight such shells have been discovered so far this year, including one found just Thursday, local media reported.– NNN-NHK