Japan court finds for U.S. chopper flights

NAHA, Japan, June 26 (UPI) -- U.S. helicopter flights from its Marine Corps Futemma Air Station in Okinawa can continue, a Japanese court ruled Thursday.

The district court ruling in Naha, Japan, rejected a petition from 392 residents near the base in Ginowan to stop helicopter takeoffs and landings in the early morning and evening as the noise from the flights was affecting their health, Kyodo news service reported.

But the court ruling said Okinawa state must pay about $1.35 million in compensation to the plaintiffs -- about $3,400 each -- for their health damage. The plaintiffs had asked for more than $9,200 per person.

Compensation for similar damage in the future, however, wasn't included in the ruling.

In his ruling, Judge Yoshimitsu Kawai said, "The state is not in a position to regulate the U.S. military's activities."

The plaintiffs said they plan to appeal.

The residents' concern about the flights increased after a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in 2004 on the campus of Okinawa International University, the report said.

There are plans to relocate the air station from Ginowan to Nago but no date has been fixed for the move.