Posted on 09/14/2026 6:24:55 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
A Republican congressman said he had to swim to safety after a plane he was traveling in made an emergency landing in a lake late Saturday.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany says he was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner when the light aircraft lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport. The pilot made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau. They both ended up in the water and swam to safety.
“After landing, we called 911. 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," he wrote on X.
The Marathon County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the emergency landing happened just before 9 p.m. Saturday. Tiffany and the pilot, Leonard Boltz, got out of the plane and called 911. They were rescued by emergency responders in a fire department airboat just after 9 p.m.
Both men were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released. Tiffany suffered a cut above his right eye that required stitches, his campaign said in an emailed statement.
A no-wake buoy was placed near the plane and boaters are being asked to avoid the area until the plane can be removed, the sheriff's office said. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and will investigate.
Tiffany is running for governor on the Republican ticket in Wisconsin and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
David Crowley, the Democratic candidate wished Tiffany a “quick recovery” in a post on X and lauded the “heroism of the pilot.”
The plane Tiffany was traveling in was a single-engine, four-seat Bonanza aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
"Tiffany is running for governor on the Republican ticket in Wisconsin and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump."
I would have thought the lead would be Republican Governor candidate Tom Tiffany . . .
Not congressman . . .
I don’t know the cause or circumstances of the accident.
But anyone opposing the works of Satan these days needs to be especially careful, mindful and watchful with prayers.
Spiritual warfare is ramping up. Satan seems to be desperate to meet his agenda-2030 timeline.
Well, he currently IS a Congressman, and it’s also from the Bitter Losers at AP. ;)
Willing to bet it was fuel starvation.
“Any landing you can swim away from…”
Ask Loretta Fuddy about that one
Bonanza aka “The fork tailed doctor killer”
Sounds like Jack Kennedy off the Solomon Islands during WWII; not Ted Kennedy at Chappaquiddick in 1969.
If the politics thing doesn’t work out he is now in a good position to be in a re-boot of the re-boot of Magnum PI.
Glad he made it.
A Dem would have been screaming “Save me. Help. My mom never taught me to swim.”
A Republican running for office and his plane loses power...
Where have we seen this happen before?
Wonder if they will recover that plane and find out what really caused the crash.
True but in this case, pilot error seems much less likely.
Depends which one would’ve hurt more...
Emergency conditions aren’t specified.
I would suspect poor fuel management such as had been running on one tank left or right and forgot to switch to both on approach and thus fuel exhaustion. Carb icing is another if he did not turn on the carb heat. Did not turn on boost pump would not have caused this failure.
A happy ending, except for the loss of the plane.
One of my 1st cousins survived a crash in a small plane with minor injuries. The crash was in AFRICA (Zambia). About an hour after the crash, some nearby villagers showed up to help - and they spoke ENGLISH! Another small plane was able to land and take them away without having to spend a single night in the African bush.
All of which is the reason why I let the pilots fly the airplane. That’s an awful lot to remember.
All of which is the reason why I let the pilots fly the airplane. That’s an awful lot to remember.
On the other hand the plane in the water that I saw on the news looked like a Fork Tailed Doctor Coffin.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.