Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany
Hospitalized After Emergency Water Landing Midflight
Published
Wisconsin Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany is recovering after the small plane he was traveling in was forced to make an emergency landing in Lake Wausau Saturday night.
In a statement posted to X, Tiffany explains he was heading home from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner when the aircraft reportedly lost power while approaching Wausau Downtown Airport. The pilot then put the four-seat plane down on the lake in an emergency water landing.
The situation quickly turned dangerous after the aircraft began taking on water. Tiffany and the pilot called 911, then got out of the sinking plane and swam toward shallow water, where they waited for rescuers to arrive by boat.
Emergency crews ultimately brought both men to safety and transported them to Aspirus Wausau Hospital. Tiffany said he and the pilot suffered only minor injuries.
Tiffany later expressed gratitude to the pilot and first responders, including the Wausau Fire Department, for getting them out of the water safely. He also said his wife, Chris, was with him at the hospital. The cause of the plane’s power loss has not been determined.
Tiffany, who represents Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, is the Republican nominee for governor and is set to face Democratic nominee David Crowley in November.
Crowley reacted to the incident by expressing relief that Tiffany and the pilot were not seriously hurt and praising the pilot’s actions during the emergency.
