An Air Force colonel who was the director of operations for Alaskan Command was one of two people killed in a civilian airplane crash in the state earlier this week, officials confirmed Friday.
Col. Mark “Tyson” Sletten, 46, was reported missing Tuesday after two hikers witnessed a plane crash at Crescent Lake near Moose Pass on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and contacted state troopers. By Thursday, his body had been recovered and he was confirmed among the deceased on the aircraft.
“The news has been devastating for all of us here at Alaskan Command, and the loss of Tyson is being felt throughout our community,” Lt. Gen. David Nahom, the head of Alaskan Command, said in a news release Friday. “Right now, our priority is taking care of his family and our teammates that were close to Tyson.”
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Sletten was in a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, a small, civilian two-seater airplane, alongside Paul Kondrat, a 41-year-old Utah resident.
A search team consisting of the Alaska Army National Guard and professional volunteers from the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team located the crashed plane Thursday in nearly 200 feet of water.
“Both Paul Kondrat and Mark Sletten were found inside of the plane deceased,” the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement. “Their bodies were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s…
