The Okinawa Prefectural Government on Thursday asked the U.S. forces in the prefecture to halt F-15 flights until a probe is completed into a crash Wednesday in which an F-15 crashed into the sea during a training mission off the main island of Okinawa.

In a written request to the U.S. military and the U.S. Consulate General in Okinawa, the prefecture asked that F-15s be grounded until the investigation into the cause of the accident is completed.

The request also asks the U.S. forces to take every possible safety precaution.

The pilot was rescued unharmed and no one was hurt.

The letter also refers to a series of recent U.S. military incidents, including five aircraft-related mishaps between April and May, an emergency landing of a fighter jet and another one involving a helicopter on private land in early August.

"Although there were no injuries, we must say that it was only a single step away from a serious accident," the letter says of Wednesday's crash. "With such repeated occurrences of aircraft-related incidents and accidents, the situation is indeed outrageous. . . . We feel a strong distrust toward the way U.S. forces carry out their safety management and also we have to question how the U.S. forces recognize aircraft-related incidents in general."

The F-15, based at the U.S. Kadena air base, crashed at around 10 a.m. about 100 km south of the main island.