SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Paul Kondrat, 41, used to teach pilots here in Salt Lake City. He was a pilot himself, as well as a hockey coach, a fly fisherman, and a United States Marine veteran who served four tours in Afghanistan. His family said he lived fearlessly.
On Tuesday, June 18, he tragically lost his life in a plane crash at Crescent Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska – about 100 miles south of Anchorage.
“Paul was unlike any person that I’ve ever met,” recalled Cambrie Foster, one of Kondrat’s former flight students. “Everyone he met, he touched the lives of. And he had such a great influence on the general aviation community, not only in Utah, but in Alaska.”
Two hikers watched as the plane went down just after 2 p.m., last Tuesday. Search teams from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center spent the next few days searching the lake for Kondrat as well as his fellow passenger from Anchorage, Air Force Col. Mark Sletten, 46.
On Thursday, June 20, the two were found inside the plane’s cabin, submerged 193 feet beneath the lake’s surface. Officials said the two were on an instructional flight when the plane crashed.
Foster told ABC4 Kondrat had helped teach her how to fly across America’s last frontier. She said she learned from him in Alaska and remembered him fondly as a mentor, a friend, and someone who always had a smile on his face.
“He made everyone feel so special and so wanted,” said Foster. “He made sure that everyone had a place.”
Kondrat’s family said he was having the time of his life in Alaska. He would gush about flying, his students, peers, and the Alaskan nature. They called him one of a kind and said he will be greatly missed.
“Paul was just a really special guy and he loved what he did,” said Foster. “He loved his work. It was his passion in life.”
Foster told ABC4 she wants to live just as Paul Kondrat did.
An investigation into what caused the crash is currently ongoing by the National Transportation Safety Board.
