The incident temporarily closed one of the two runways servicing commercial traffic at the island’s Naha airport.
A Boeing F-15J fighter jet operated by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) experienced a landing gear collapse while landing on the island prefecture of Okinawa.
Photos of the 18 August incident indicate it was the left-side landing gear that failed, with the jet resting on its nose gear and an external fuel tank carried below the left wing. No signs of a catastrophic fire are visible.
The pilot was able to safely leave the aircraft, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK News. A photo of the single-seat fighter stranded on the tarmac at Okinawa’s Naha airport shows the escape seat still in the cockpit, suggesting the pilot was able to walk away from the hard landing without ejecting.
However, the incident did impact traffic at Naha for several hours, including closing one of the two runways that services commercial air traffic.
沖縄 那覇空港で自衛隊機トラブルか
▼詳しい記事はこちら▼https://t.co/SXKczBrway#nhk_video pic.twitter.com/sJKVpRlhTQ
— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) August 18, 2026
Grainy video footage from an NHK camera shows the left-side gear collapsing almost immediately after the fighter touches down for a normal, flared landing. The F-15 rotates 180° while scraping the surface of the runway, which appears to have created a small friction fire in the landing gear area.
The jet was removed from the runway largely intact after being lifted onto a flatbed truck via crane.
Unverified photos suggest the incident aircraft was registration number 22-8809: an F-15J in active JASDF service stationed at Naha air base. The dual-use Okinawa airport is home to two Japanese fighter squadrons operating the F-15J.
The F-15J is a Japan-specific variant of the F-15C, assembled under licence by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Tokyo operates 155 of the type, with MHI in the process of upgrading the fleet under the Japan Super Interceptor effort, including a new active electronically scanned array fire-control radar and electronic warfare countermeasures.
The post Japanese F-15 suffers landing gear collapse during touchdown in Okinawa first appeared on FlightGlobal.