Two 15-year-old boys who set out on Oahu's Pupukea Summit Trail at 7 a.m. Saturday were still missing more than 30 hours later, until Honolulu firefighters spotted them from the air and hoisted them to safety Sunday evening. The teens were uninjured and declined medical attention once rescue crews reached them on the North Shore ridge.
The Honolulu Fire Department received a 911 call at 5:16 p.m. Sunday reporting the boys lost but unhurt, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Crews scrambled a search-and-rescue response that included five units and 13 personnel, and HFD's Air 1 helicopter inserted rescue specialists directly onto the mountain's summit rather than sending teams up on foot. Those personnel located and reached the teens by 5:41 p.m., just 25 minutes after the call came in, and the helicopter then airlifted the pair to a landing zone.
A Remote Ridge Far From the Trailhead
The Pupukea Summit Trail sits on Oahu's North Shore and, when combined with the Kaunala Loop, stretches across roughly nine miles of overgrown, muddy ridgeline terrain, according to Komoot. It also serves as the northern trailhead for the Koʻolau Summit Trail, an unmaintained route that runs more than 50 miles along Oahu's spine.
The Cost of Air Rescues
A legislative estimate puts helicopter search-and-rescue operations at roughly $1,500 per hour.
Diamond Head was the most frequent site for hike rescues in 2025, with Koko Crater Stairs, Lulumahu Falls and the Lanikai Pillboxes also among the high-volume sites.
The Fight Over Who Pays for Rescues
The Pupukea rescue also lands amid an ongoing debate at the state Capitol over whether lost or negligent hikers should be billed for expensive helicopter extractions. The Honolulu Fire Department and State Fire Council have consistently testified against such proposals, warning that financial penalties could cause stranded hikers to delay calling 911, as previously reported by Hoodline in its coverage of a Maui rescue.
The Pupukea rescue comes roughly a week after Hoodline reported on three hikers hoisted off a ridge following a six-hour ordeal, part of a broader pattern of ridge rescues across Oahu this year. In the earlier rescue, Air 1 located the hikers, while ground personnel were sent as a backup.
