Marines prepare to rappel from a UH-1Y Venom assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Oct. 13, 2023. (Alora Finigan/U.S. Marine Corps)
A Marine Corps investigation found that “ignorance” and procedure failures led to a helicopter dropping a 40-pound bag of emergency equipment over northern Okinawa last year.
The bag fell from a UH-1Y Venom assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 during a training flight over the Motobu Peninsula on May 13, 2025. No injuries or damage were reported.
The incident stemmed from insufficient understanding of safety procedures and aircraft systems, said the report, which was obtained by the Okinawa Times through a Freedom of Information Act request and published online May 10.
“This event can be attributed to ignorance, best rectified through education of procedures and systems knowledge,” said a handwritten note in the report. “We are extremely fortunate this did not result in any serious physical damage or harm.”
The Marine Corps and Okinawa Defense Bureau — an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense — ended a search for the bag on June 6 after failing to recover it, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman Maj. Joseph Butterfield said by email Thursday. The wing suspects it fell over land, he said in a follow-up phone call.
The bag contained emergency survival equipment tied to an onboard life raft, the report said. It contained signal flares, batteries, a strobe light, a chemical light stick and a sea dye marker.
The wing conducted the investigation. Investigators interviewed three pilots and two crew chiefs. Their names and the report’s recommendations were redacted.
The crew had conducted a rope descent drill at Camp Schwab before the flight. To support the training, the raft and attached bag were removed and resecured twice before departure, according to the report.
A life raft with its accessory bag missing is shown post-flight after a UH-1Y Venom with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 dropped the bag over Okinawa’s Motobu Peninsula on May 13, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Investigators found the raft was secured in a position not recommended for the UH-1Y, placing it in the aircraft’s wind line. That, and the frequent removals, allowed components connected to the raft system to loosen during flight, ultimately causing the bag to detach.
The report also found the crew used a life raft model not recommended for the aircraft. The approved version contains an enclosed compartment designed to prevent shifting equipment from separating during flight.
Crew members noticed straps securing the raft loosening several times during the flight and resecured them, but they did not inform the pilots, according to the report.
“Had the aircrew understood the risks implied in placing the life raft in the wind line, communication regarding the security of the life raft and all its contents would have been passed back and forth between the pilots and the aircrew throughout the flight, potentially preventing the survival bag from departing the aircraft,” the report said.
Butterfield said all crew members involved were reeducated on safety procedures and that all UH-1Y life raft systems had been inspected.
The incident prompted protests from the Nago city assembly, which called for stronger safety measures and revisions to the U.S.-Japan status of forces agreement.
Stars and Stripes reporter Keishi Koja contributed to this report.
AloJapan.com