Congressman Swims to Safety as Plane Sinks After Emergency Lake Landing

A Wisconsin congressman and the pilot of a small plane were forced to swim to safety Saturday night after the aircraft lost power, made an emergency landing in a lake, and began to sink.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner in Onalaska when the single-engine plane lost power on its approach to Wausau Downtown Airport, according to Tiffany and the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office. The pilot, Leonard Boltz, brought the aircraft down in Lake Wausau instead.

The sheriff’s office received a report of the crash at 8:49 p.m. Tiffany said he and Boltz stayed with the aircraft long enough to call 911. Then the water started coming in.

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“As the plane began to submerge, we exited the aircraft and swam to a shallow area,” Tiffany said in a statement posted to social media.

The two men waited in the water for help until the Wausau Fire Department airboat reached them and pulled them out at 9:05 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office. Both were alert and conscious and were taken to Aspirus Wausau Hospital for treatment.

Tiffany suffered a laceration above his right eye that required stitches, his campaign said Sunday. Boltz was treated for minor injuries. Both men were released. Tiffany, 68, represents Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District and is the Republican nominee for governor. He and Boltz, 73, were the only two people aboard.

Tiffany’s campaign has identified the plane as a Beechcraft K35, part of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza line. Investigators have yet to determine what may have caused the aircraft to lose power. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating. 

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The plane was still in Lake Wausau on Sunday. Authorities placed a no-wake buoy nearby and asked boaters to steer clear until it can be removed.

Tiffany thanked Boltz and the first responders who got both men out of the water.

“An experience like this reminds you just how precious life is,” he said.

source https://www.mensjournal.com/news/congressman-swims-to-safety-as-plane-sinks-after-emergency-lake-landing