On Tuesday, a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jet crashed as it was taking off at the African nation's Ambouli International Airport. The pilot was able to eject and was treated at a medical facility but has since been released according to several officials. Then separately, a Marine CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter suffered "structural damage" during a landing at a landing zone at Djibouti's Arta Beach, Urban said. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie says the decision to cancel the remainder of an exercise called Alligator Dagger was “a reasonable precaution” in light of the aviation accidents, which happened separately but within a few hours of each other on Tuesday. iStock/Thinkstock(DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti) — The U.S. military has canceled the rest of the ongoing “Alligator Dagger” exercise in Djibouti at the request of that country’s government following two back-to-back aviation accidents on Tuesday involving Marine aircraft. Neighboring Djibouti is home to a U.S. base that launches drone missions over Somalia and Yemen, as well as a Chinese military base and Japan's first overseas base since World War II.
Djibouti grounds all flights at a US military base in the country after two accidents in two days. The base is used for counterterror operations in Yemen and Somalia.