Overview
- A four-seat Beechcraft lost power on approach and made an emergency water landing, and Rep. Tom Tiffany and the pilot exited the sinking plane, swam to shallow water, and were reached by rescue crews after the Saturday night landing.
- Both men were taken to Aspirus Wausau Hospital with only minor injuries; Tiffany received stitches for a laceration above his right eye and was released the same night.
- Local authorities marked the wreck with a buoy, urged the public to stay away from the site, and turned the mechanical investigation over to FAA investigators.
- Pilot Leonard (Len) Boltz and Wausau-area first responders were credited with actions that kept the outcome from being worse, with dispatch audio and officials saying rescuers pulled the pair from the water roughly minutes after the plane went down.
- Tiffany, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor and a Trump endorsee, canceled a short out-of-state flight on doctors’ orders but said he intends to largely continue campaign events this week.