A small plane carrying a U.S. congressman went down in a Wisconsin lake Saturday night.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican from Wisconsin and the current GOP nominee for governor, was aboard a single-engine Beechcraft K35 Bonanza when it lost power and made an emergency water landing on Lake Wausau. He and the pilot both walked away with only minor injuries.
The pilot, Leonard E. Boltz, 73, of Pearson, was at the controls when the aircraft ran into mechanical trouble. Tiffany was the only passenger on the four-seat plane. The two were heading back from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner in Onalaska when the engine lost power as they were approaching their destination, Wausau Downtown Airport.
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As originally reported, Boltz brought the plane down on the lake at approximately 8:49 p.m. Once on the water, the two men called 911. As the aircraft began to sink beneath them, they climbed out and swam to a shallow area, where they waited for emergency responders to arrive.
Both men sustained only minor injuries despite the aircraft going under.
