Japan set to start searches at airports for unexploded World War II bombs

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japan will search for unexploded ordnance at airports to prevent incidents like this week’s explosion at Miyazaki Airport, which left a crater and led to flight cancellations but no injuries.

"This is something that could affect the safety of flights," Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito told a press briefing on Friday, adding that he instructed officials to consider surveying other airports, including Sendai, Fukuoka and Naha.

The ministry will begin magnetic surveys around Miyazaki’s taxiway, runway, and apron starting as early as Monday. Flight schedules are expected to remain unaffected, according to Japan-based Kyodo News.

Miyazaki Airport, on the island of Kyushu, which previously served as an Imperial Japanese Navy air base, has been the site of multiple discoveries of unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II. Two were found in 2011, followed by another in 2021.

On Wednesday, a 250-kilogram (551-pound) bomb exploded, sending debris over a 200-meter (656-foot) radius, including the airport’s runway. The explosion left a 7-meter (23-foot) wide crater, 1 meter (3 feet) deep, on the taxiway.

No injuries were reported, but the runway was temporarily closed following the explosion, which is suspected to have been caused by unexploded World War II-era ordnance from the U.S.

As a result, all flights to and from Miyazaki Airport were suspended during the runway closure.