The mayor of a small town in northern Japan has demanded the US military ground fighter jets at a nearby air base after an F-16 Fighting Falcon jettisoned external fuel tanks into a lake in the latest US military failure in the country.

Local fishermen on Lake Ogawara, close to the perimeter of Misawa Air Base, reported that the two fuel tanks produced a tall column of water as they hit the lake about 600 feet away from where their boats were gathering freshwater clams.

There were no reports of injuries, although parts of the tanks were later found in the partly ice-covered lake along with a small oil slick, Jiji Press reported.

The pilot of the US aircraft reported a fire in his engine shortly after take-off at around 8.40am on Tuesday but was able to return to the base after jettisoning the two wing-mounted tanks.

“We have lots of fishermen. One wrong step could result in a catastrophe”, Koji Ebina, mayor of the town of Tohoku, in Aomori Prefecture, told reporters after a meeting with the commander of the base.