According to Ministry of Defense documents obtained by Nishinippon Shimbun, residents of Kyushu have reported about 500 cases of low-flying U.S. military aircraft between 2009 and June 2014. Complaints of noisy aircraft flying over Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures have increased since 2012, with 101 coming in the first half of 2014 alone. Officials at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa admitted to a Nishinippon Shimbun reporter that the flight path for MC-130 special mission aircraft training flights has passed over Kyushu for more than 10 years. Although Japanese Self-Defense Forces adhere to regulations on low-flying aircraft in the Civil Aeronautics Act, U.S. forces are exempt from those stipulations. Both countries agreed in 1999 that U.S. aircraft shall not fly lower than 300m over populated areas, but the rule appears to have become a mere formality. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 1/1
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