Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany has described the harrowing seconds before the four-seat plane he was traveling in crashed into a lake, saying the pilot abruptly warned him they were going down and gave him only moments to brace for impact.
The Republican lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate said the aircraft was preparing to land in Wausau, Wisconsin, on Saturday night when the pilot turned to him and instructed him to tighten his seat belt.
‘As we were making that final turn before we were going to approach for landing, the pilot turned to me and said, “Tom, we are going down, pull your seat belt as tight as possible,”‘ Tiffany told Fox News on Monday night.
‘And it was like staring into the abyss. And you don’t know how far down it is.’
Tiffany said he pulled his seat belt as tight as possible shortly before the plane went down in Lake Wausau.
‘Get This Door Open’
‘I pulled that seat belt as tight as I could and it was just a couple seconds later, we hit the water and we hit it hard,’ he said.
Despite the force of the impact, the aircraft remarkably remained intact and stayed afloat.
‘The plane stayed upright, thankfully as a result of the skilled work of the pilot, and we looked at each other and said, “Are you okay?”‘ Tiffany recalled.
But with the damaged plane sitting in the lake and starting to sink, Tiffany said they had little time to get out in the darkness.
‘When we were both okay I just said to him, “Get this door open,” because, you know, the door was right there on my side in the copilot’s seat,’ he explained.
The pair managed to force their way out before swimming away from the stricken aircraft and toward the shoreline.
‘We got the door open, got out and the rest from there, we were able to be saved by the local law enforcement as well as the first responders,’ Tiffany said.
‘I can’t thank them enough for what they did, but it’s by the grace of God that we are here today.’
12 Stitches and Power Loss
Tiffany said the entire sequence unfolded so rapidly that he has struggled to recall the individual moments.
‘It happened really quickly,’ he said. ‘And we were out of that plane I think really quickly. And, you know, you just try to piece it back together but it just happened so quickly.’
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The congressman escaped with a gash above his eye that required 12 stitches, while the pilot needed four stitches.
‘Each of us had very minor injuries. Once again thanks to the grace of God,’ Tiffany said. ‘This is the only injury I have.’
The dramatic account came two days after Tiffany first revealed he had survived the crash while returning home from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner.
He said the four-seat Bonanza lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport, forcing the pilot to attempt an emergency landing on the lake.
‘We Swam to Shallow Water’
‘While returning home from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner tonight, the plane I was traveling in lost power as we approached the Wausau Downtown Airport,’ Tiffany wrote on Facebook after the ordeal.
‘The pilot made an emergency water landing in Lake Wausau. After landing, we called 911,’ Tiffany wrote. ‘As the plane began to submerge, we exited the aircraft and swam to a shallow area, where we waited until emergency responders reached us by boat.’
The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene.
Tiffany and the pilot were taken from the water and transported to Aspirus Wausau Hospital for treatment.
The congressman later thanked those involved in the dramatic rescue, saying first responders ‘got us safely off the water and transported us to Aspirus Wausau Hospital, where we received excellent care.’
Polls Tied at 44%
Exactly what caused the aircraft to lose power remains under investigation.
Tiffany, a Republican, has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District since 2020, winning the seat previously held by Sean Duffy, who resigned from Congress in 2019 and now serves as President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary.
Tiffany is now the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor and is set to face Democrat David Crowley in November.
A Marquette Law School poll published at the end of August showed the two tied at 44 percent of support each among respondents who were registered voters. 12 percent of registered voter respondents to the poll were undecided.
Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district has been represented by Republicans for the last 15 years.