Captain Tatsunosuke Ariizumi shifted the canal mission toward kamikaze attacks intended to improve accuracy against the lock gates. The change was concealed from the aircrews until a pilot noticed that releasable bomb fittings were being replaced by fixed mounts. The secrecy reflected the nominally voluntary character of kamikaze service and the command's fear that trained pilots might withdraw or seek reassignment. Practice against a full-scale wooden model of the Gatun Locks shows both the operation's seriousness and the coercive personnel problem beneath it.
Notable Point · 50:55-53:49
The Panama plan concealed a kamikaze conversion
Pilots training against a full-scale lock model discovered only late that their bomb-release gear had been replaced for a suicide attack.