An Air Force colonel in charge of Alaska military operations is one of two people still missing after a small plane crashed into a remote lake during a training flight on Tuesday, officials said.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers and Alaska Command have identified the two men aboard the small plane that crashed into Crescent Lake near Moose Pass on the Kenai Peninsula as Capt. Mark “Tyson” Sletten, 46, and Paul Kondrat, 41, of Utah.
Two hikers told state police they saw the Piper PA-18 crash Tuesday afternoon.
An Alaska Department of Public Safety helicopter and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service floatplane rushed to the scene, but found only wreckage and no survivors.
Volunteers from the Alaska Dive, Search, Rescue and Recovery Team conducted a search of the lake on Thursday, a National Guard spokesman said.
The work involved sonar, remotely operated vehicles and divers in the lake, which is more than 200 feet deep in some places.
Clint Johnson, Alaska region director for the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was unclear how deep the plane was in the water.
“It appears there were several witnesses at Lake Crescent who saw the incident,” he said. According to an Alaska news source.
“The NTSB is still trying to talk to witnesses and get an accurate account of what they saw, but my understanding is they’re still on scene. Hopefully they’ll be finished by the end of today.”
Alaska Command is located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. It is responsible for homeland defense missions, civil support and security and is part of U.S. Northern Command.
With post wire
