Air Force Colonel 1 of 2 men missing after plane crashes into remote Alaskan lake
An Air Force colonel who heads operations for the Alaskan Command is one of two men missing after a small plane crashed into a remote lake Tuesday during an instructional flight, according to officials.
Col. Mark “Tyson” Sletten, 46, and Utah resident Paul Kondrat, 41, were identified by Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Alaskan Command as the two men aboard the small aircraft that plunged into Crescent Lake near Moose Pass on the Kenai Peninsula.
Two hikers told state troopers that they saw the doomed Piper PA-18 go down on Tuesday afternoon.
An Alaska Department of Public Safety helicopter and US Fish and Wildlife float plane rushed to the area, but only found debris and no survivors.
Volunteers from the Alaska Dive, Search, Rescue and Recovery Team scoured the lake on Thursday, a troopers spokesperson said.
Sonar, remotely operated vehicles and divers were all part of the effort in the lake that in some places is more than 200 feet deep.
Clint Johnson, who is the Alaska regional chief with the National Transportation and Safety Board, said it isn’t known how deep the plane is in the water.
“There were some witnesses at Crescent Lake that apparently saw this accident,” he said, according to Alaska’s News Source.
“The NTSB is in the process of trying to talk with those witnesses to get a good account of what they saw. But my understanding is they’re still in the field, and hopefully that’ll take place by the end of the day.”
Alaskan Command is located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. It provides homeland defense missions, civil support and security and is part of US Northern Command.
With Post wires
