The wreckage of a World War II B-24 bomber, long an attraction for hikers on Aiea Loop Trail, has become considerably less accessible.
Most of the wreckage has been covered by fallen trees.
Hikers who make their way down the slope can find pieces of metal mixed in with vegetation and one of the bomber’s landing gears. But it’s a difficult descent, especially in mud.
"We periodically visit that site to record changes," Colin Perry, director of the Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society, said in an email. "There was a landslide in 2007 that destroyed the tree and sign that annotated the wreck. The slide moved everything down slope."
He added, "If you are adventurous, go to the east and look for the larger wing and fuselage remnants toward H-3."
However, the terrain is steep, with a sudden drop-off to Halawa Valley, he warned.
The bomber, a B-24J Liberator, crashed in the early morning of May 5, 1944, killing all 10 crewmen, including the pilot, 2nd Lt. W.R. Kimble.
A plaque placed by the society near the parking lot of the trail says the plane took off from Hickam Field, failed to make a turn and plowed into Puuuau Ridge.
Two other crash sites are nearby on the trail, said Burl Burlingame, curator of the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor.
"Hawaii has an incredibly high number of crash sites, most of them in the water," he said.
The state Parks Division, which has jurisdiction over the trail, will be sending a crew up next month for routine maintenance, said Eric Kato, Oahu district superintendent. It’s uncertain whether that will include removing some of the vegetation that covers the wreck pieces.
