On Wednesday, an unexploded 500-pound U.S. bomb from World War II, buried at a Japanese airport in the south westof the country, detonated unexpectedly. A video of the bomb exploding has also emerged.
The explosion created a large crater, approximately 7 meters in diameter and 1 meter deep, in a taxiway at Miyazaki Airport.
Video footage from a nearby aviation school captured the blast, showing asphalt debris propelled into the air like a fountain. Further video from Japanese television broadcasts confirmed the significant crater in the taxiway.
The incident resulted in the cancellation of over 80 flights at Miyazaki Airport as of Wednesday afternoon. However, no injuries were reported, and no aircraft were in the immediate vicinity at the time of the explosion.
A joint investigation by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and police definitively linked the explosion to the World War II-era U.S. bomb, and declared that there was no ongoing danger. The precise cause of the bomb’s detonation remains under investigation.
Miyazaki Airport, originally constructed in 1943 as an Imperial Japanese Navy flight training field used for kamikaze missions, has a history of uncovering unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War II. Defense Ministry officials confirmed that several unexploded bombs have been previously unearthed in the area.
This incident highlights the ongoing challenge posed by the hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs remaining buried across Japan, which are occasionally discovered during construction projects. Airport officials reported that repairs to the taxiway were completed overnight, allowing flights to resume Thursday morning.
