We were 20 miles off the coast of Honshu Island, Japan, conducting humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HADR) operations in support of Operation Tomodachi aboard USS Essex (LHD 2). The weather was VFR. We had just launched the first helicopter in a section of H-46 Phrogs headed to the beach. A flight of two Air Force MC-130s came cruising by the ship's port side at 250 feet and 230 knots, dangerously close to the unsuspecting helicopters in the pattern. To the uninvolved observer it was an eye-catching flight demonstration, but definitely not conducive to safe flight operations on a big deck amphib. They hadn't been cleared into our tower's airspace, and were not communicating with the Air Boss. Once the interlopers were brought to the Air Boss's attention, the radio waves erupted with altitude restrictions, traffic calls and takeoff cancellations. Not knowing the havoc they left in their wake, the "intruders" silently departed the area. Normalcy was restored to the traffic pattern, and we carried out the remainder of the day's flight schedule.
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