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       TOKYO -- Following the finding that U.S. military helicopters have been repeatedly flying in central Tokyo at low altitudes that would be illegal for Japanese aircraft, the Mainichi Shimbun on June 14 released a new video providing evidence of such a flight.

       The video shows a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter flying at a low altitude of about 200 meters in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on Dec. 4, 2020, well below the permitted altitude for Japanese aircraft.

       This image from video footage shows a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter passing near high-rise buildings in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo at an altitude of around 200 meters. (Mainichi/Hiroyuki Oba)

       Under the Japanese civil aviation law and regulations, airplanes and helicopters must fly at a minimum of over 300 meters above the tallest building in densely populated areas. The Black Hawk was seen flying at around the same height as the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower which stands about 203 meters tall. It then continued to pass between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Main Building No. 1 (243 m tall) and the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building (270 m tall) while flying at around the same altitude.

       The distance between the metropolitan government building and the NTT Docomo building is about 1,100 meters, and since the minimum safety altitude applies within a 600-meter radius of the aircraft, it would be illegal for a Japanese helicopter to pass between the two buildings as the U.S. military helicopter did.

       The Mainichi Shimbun released an article on Feb. 24 with a video on U.S. military helicopters' low altitude flights that were commonly taking place in the skies above Shinjuku, and later reported on low altitude flights by U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopters.

       Following the series of reports, the Japanese government has asked the U.S. to confirm the facts, but the U.S. side has said that a detailed check is not easy as time has passed since the flights, and its final response has not yet been revealed. Based on the situation, the Mainichi Shimbun is releasing previously unreleased video footage showing the flights.

       (Japanese original by Hiroyuki Oba, Tokyo City News Department and Takahiro Kato, Video Group)

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