At least three US
Navy P-3 Orion surveillance planes were crushed "beyond repair" when
unusually heavy snowfall swept across Japan in February, a US military
daily reported Wednesday.
The
planes were inside a contractor's hangar near the US Navy air facility
in Atsugi, west of Tokyo, the Pacific Stars and Stripes said in its
online edition, citing a US Naval spokeswoman.
A US Orion and six P-3 variants from the Japanese defence forces brought in for repairs or checks were also there.
The
550-foot (168-metre)-long hangar with an ageing 50-foot-high roof
collapsed under snow, damaging most of the Japanese planes as well, the
daily said, without saying the exact date of the incident.
Heavy
snowfall struck across the Japanese islands on and off over weeks in
February, killing 26 people, injuring more than 1,000 others and
damaging more than 600 houses.
Tokyo and its vicinity on the Pacific board are not used to heavy snow storms.
Japan's
major non-life insurers have estimated the total damage caused by the
heavy snow at roughly 60 billion yen ($600 million) or more after many
garages and house roofs collapsed under the weight of snow and motor
vehicles were involved in accidents on slippery roads.
