Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany posted a video Sunday thanking supporters, first responders, and medical staff after the small plane carrying him home from a campaign event lost power and made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau on Saturday night.
Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor and the U.S. representative for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner when the Beechcraft K35 Bonanza lost power on approach to Wausau Downtown Airport around 8:49 p.m. Pilot Leonard Boltz, 73, of Pearson, put the four-seat aircraft down in the lake. Tiffany and Boltz were the only people aboard.
After the plane began to sink, the two men climbed out, called 911, stayed on the aircraft for several minutes, then swam about 100 to 150 feet to a shallow sandbar. Wausau Fire Department crews reached them by airboat at 9:05 p.m. and took them to Aspirus Wausau Hospital. Tiffany received 12 stitches above his right eye. Boltz needed four stitches. Both were released Saturday night.
“I just want to say thank you for your prayers and support,” Tiffany said in the video posted to X Sunday night. “We were incredibly fortunate, and I’m thankful the pilot and I are both doing well. The experience was a reminder to never take a single day for granted.”
He thanked the 911 dispatcher, the Wausau Fire Department crew that pulled them from the water, EMS, law enforcement, and hospital staff, adding that first responders “represent the best of Wisconsin.”
Earlier Sunday he had already posted written thanks after being released from the hospital and later spoke to reporters in Wausau, growing emotional as he recounted the landing. He credited Boltz with retracting the landing gear before impact, which he said may have kept the plane from flipping. The FAA and NTSB are investigating the loss of power. The aircraft remained in the lake Sunday, marked by a buoy.
Tiffany said Sunday evening that he was home with his family and ready to get back to work.
“God is good,” he said.
