Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor, says he sustained minor injuries late Saturday when a plane he was traveling in was forced to make an emergency water landing.
Tiffany said in a statement on X that he and the pilot swam to safety after the light aircraft, which had lost power while approaching Wisconsin’s Wausau Downtown Airport, landed in Lake Wausau and began to submerge.
“I want to express my deepest gratitude to the pilot, the Wausau Fire Department, and all of the first responders who came to our aid so quickly,” Tiffany said. “They got us safely off the water and transported us to Aspirus Wausau Hospital, where we received excellent care. Thankfully, both the pilot and I sustained only minor injuries.”
Rescue teams were called to reports of a downed plane with two people in the water, emergency services’ radio communications obtained by NBC News indicate. Two survivors pulled out of the water were “alert and conscious,” the audio suggests.
In a separate post to X, Tiffany said he was released from the hospital Saturday night “after receiving stitches above my right eye, and the pilot was also released.”
“We thank God that neither of us suffered more serious injuries after the plane we were traveling in lost power,” he said in the post.
At a news conference Sunday, Tiffany described the moments before the plane crashed and the pilot telling him to buckle in.
“As we went to our final approach, the plane lost power, and Len said to me: ‘We are going down. Pull your seat belt tight.’ That’s exactly what I did. I gave it a yank and pulled it good and tight. And it was probably about 10 seconds later. Not sure the exact timing, but probably about 10 seconds later, we hit the water. And after the plane settled, probably a couple seconds, we looked at each other. ‘Are you OK?’ And he said to me, ‘Are you OK?’ And like, ‘Yeah, doing fine,’” Tiffany said.
The congressman then added that he and the pilot swam to the nearby sandbar, saying there was “no panic.”
Tiffany said the experience would not deter his run for the governor’s office, but he got emotional while recounting it.
“I have to say that the gravity of this is probably just hitting me at this point,” Tiffany said. “We were making jokes every step of the way last night, though we knew it was a serious situation, but we tried to keep it light through the whole thing.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it would investigate the crash of a Beechcraft K35 with two people aboard.
Tiffany represents Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District and is endorsed by President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election.
His Democratic opponent, David Crowley, said in a post on X: “I’m grateful to God that Congressman Tiffany and no one else was hurt in this horrifying incident, which could have been a tragedy if not for the heroism of the pilot.”
“I wish them and the Congressman a quick recovery and that they can find solace with their loved ones,” he added.
Tiffany said “an experience like this reminds you just how precious life is.”
