Bodies Recovered In Alaska Lake Crash; Check Full Details

Two men’s bodies have been found from a tiny plane that crashed into an Alaskan lake. One of the men was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force who was the head of operations for the Alaskan Command.

Dead Bodies Discovered In Alaska Lake

On Thursday, the aircraft was discovered in Crescent Lake, located around 100 miles south of Anchorage on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, at a depth of 193 feet. The Piper PA-18 Super Cub was floated and towed to shore by volunteers with the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team and the Alaska Air National Guard using a remote vehicle.

Identity Of The Dead Bodies

Within the aircraft were the remains of Paul Kondrat, 41, of Salt Lake City, and Col. Mark Tyson Sletten, 46, of Anchorage. For autopsies, they have been forwarded to the office of the state medical examiner. The cause of the collision will be looked into by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Alaskan Command manages security, civil support, and homeland defense operations out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Tuesday’s plane tragedy occurred when the two guys were on an educational flight. Debris on the lake was discovered by an Alaska Department of Public Safety helicopter and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife float plane, but no survivors were discovered.

Investigation On This Incident

At the lake, a search and rescue team from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, comprising volunteers from the Alaska Dive, Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team, was working. The lake is nearly 200 feet deep in some places, so the crew was searching previously designated areas of interest using sonar, remotely operated vehicles, and skilled divers.

In one of the areas of interest marked with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on Wednesday, searchers discovered the aircraft in roughly 193 feet of water, according to a later statement from the public safety agency. The aircraft was floated and dragged to the coast by divers and a ROV. The State Medical Examiner’s Office received the bodies so they could be autopsied.