A KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron visits Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, July 14, 2025. (Samantha White/U.S. Air Force)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — An aerial refueling tanker diverted to this airlift hub in western Tokyo due to a maintenance issue Thursday morning, according to the 374th Airlift Wing.
The KC-135 Stratotanker, assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, landed safely at Yokota at 10:40 a.m. with no reported injuries, Master Sgt. Nathan Allen, a wing spokesman, said in an email that day.
“Emergency response protocols were activated in accordance with standard procedures,” he wrote.
The incident follows a pair of recent precautionary landings by Air Force CV-22 Ospreys in northern Japan.
A tiltrotor from Kadena’s 353rd Special Operations Wing landed at 9:45 a.m. July 24 at Iwate Hanamaki Airport in Hanamaki, wing spokesman 1st Lt. Cullen Drenkhahn said by email that day. No injuries or damage were reported, and commercial flights were not affected.
The wing’s Ospreys are assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron at Yokota.
Iwate prefecture Gov. Takuya Tasso raised concerns about the incident during his regular news conference the following day.
“I want them to give us notice about flight plans in advance,” he said. “I would like to sort that out and will consider making a request to the Ministry of Defense and other relevant agencies.”
Another Yokota Osprey landed at 3:55 p.m. July 18 at Odate-Noshiro Airport in Kitaakita city, according to a news release that day on Akita prefecture’s website. No injuries or commercial flight delays were reported. The aircraft departed for Misawa Air Base about six hours later.
AloJapan.com