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Participants display banners against a planned deployment of Osprey aircraft during a rally in Ginowan, on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012. Thousands of people gathered to demand a plan to deploy 12 MV-22 Osprey aircraft on the island be scrapped, saying they are unsafe. The U.S. plans to deploy them to replace older CH-46 helicopters that are already there. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
TOKYO—Thousands of people have rallied against U.S. plans to deploy Osprey aircraft on a southern Japanese island amid renewed safety concerns.

The protesters gathered Sunday at a seaside park on Okinawa to demand that the plan to deploy 12 MV-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft on the island be scrapped, saying they are unsafe. The U.S. plans to deploy the Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane, to replace older CH-46 helicopters that are already there.

Safety concerns boiled over after Osprey crashes in Morocco and Florida earlier this year. An incident in North Carolina last week that officials called a "precautionary landing" aggravated the sentiment.

The Osprey issue has also reignited longstanding anger over the heavy presence of American troops on Okinawa.