TOKYO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Two Osprey aircrafts from the U.S. Air Force made emergency landings on Amami Island in southwestern Japan on Monday, officials said, reigniting concerns about the accident-prone planes' deployment in Japan.
Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera confirmed that he had heard that the two planes had experienced difficulties, while local authorities confirmed there had been no reports of casualties or damage from the emergency landings.
The Osprey CV-22 tilt-rotor planes, Onodera said, made the emergency landings at Amami Airport in Kagoshima Prefecture at around 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon.
The planes were bound for Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, having departed from Yokota Air Base in the outskirts of Tokyo, the defense minister said.
Ospreys have been involved in a number of accidents and mishaps since their deployment in Japan in 2012, with citizens and local officials vehemently calling for the planes to be withdrawn from Japan.
The aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a fixed-wing plane, have been involved in multiple crashes around the world leading to numerous fatalities, dating back to the plane's developmental phase in 2000.
