From BBC News · · 1m 30s
His plane went down, so he swam
A Wisconsin congressman and his pilot climbed out of a sinking plane into a cold lake and waited 15 minutes for a boat.
In brief
A Wisconsin congressman and his pilot climbed out of a sinking plane into a cold lake and waited 15 minutes for a boat. A single-engine plane lost power on approach and both men aboard walked away with cuts, because they got out fast and swam for shallow water. Originally reported by BBC News.
A lake, not a runway
Tom Tiffany, Wisconsin's Republican nominee for governor, was flying home Saturday night when the small plane hit a mechanical problem. The pilot put it down in Lake Wausau.
Out before it sank
Tiffany and the pilot called 911 from the water. They pulled themselves out as the aircraft filled and swam to a shallow patch of the lake.
“As the plane began to submerge, we exited the aircraft and swam to a shallow area”
Power gone on approach
He was coming back from a dinner in La Crosse County. The plane lost power as it neared Wausau Downtown Airport, minutes from landing.
Fifteen minutes in the water
The 911 call came in at 20:49 local time. A Wausau Fire Department airboat reached the two men at 21:05 and took them off the shallows.
Two men, one engine
The aircraft was a Beechcraft K35 Bonanza, a single-engine plane that seats five. Only Tiffany and the pilot were aboard. Both had minor injuries, and Tiffany took a small cut above his right eye.
“God was watching over us tonight, and I am incredibly grateful to be here in the hospital”
Still in the lake
The cause of the failure is not yet known. The FAA and NTSB are investigating while crews work to haul the plane out of the water.
“An experience like this reminds you just how precious life is.”
The bottom line
A single-engine plane lost power on approach and both men aboard walked away with cuts, because they got out fast and swam for shallow water.
