The mayor of a town in northeastern Japan said Wednesday that he has called on the U.S. military to suspend operations by F-16 fighter jets stationed at Misawa Air Base in the region, after one of them dumped fuel tanks in a town lake following an engine fire.

Koji Ebina, mayor of the Aomori Prefecture town of Tohoku, made the request during a meeting with Col. R. Scott Jobe, commander of the U.S. base, after the F-16 jettisoned its two external fuel tanks into Lake Ogawara in Aomori Prefecture.

"We have lots of fishermen. One wrong step could result in a catastrophe," Ebina told reporters Wednesday. Local fishermen said the tanks dropped 200 to 400 meters away from clam boats that were operating at the time.