A U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing due to mechanical problems Thursday morning in a public park close to the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, police said. There were four passengers aboard the helicopter which belongs to the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo. There are no immediate reports of injuries, according to the police. The incident at a heliport in Rinko Park occurred at 9:55 a.m. (00:55 GMT). The chopper left Yokota base shortly after 9 a.m., but detected mechanical problems just two kilometres away from Rinko Park's heliport. The helicopter was on a training flight, police authorities said. Just Friday, a U.S. military helicopter crashed at a university campus in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, injuring three crew members. The CH-53D transport helicopter from the Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa exploded and burst into flames after it went down and hit a university building, according to police authorities. Outraged by the accident, nearby city councils have drawn up resolutions calling for an early return to Japan of the site used for the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station adjacent to the college campus as well as calling on the authorities to review the plan to relocate the air base in the city of Nago. --SP 1301 Local Time 1001 GMT
