Congressman Ditches Crashed Plane Injured

Two men climbed from a sinking Beechcraft and swam for shore after the engine quit on final approach.

Story Snapshot

A Beechcraft K35 lost power and ditched in Lake Wausau with two aboard.
Congressman Tom Tiffany and pilot Leonard Boltz exited and swam to safety.
First responders reached them within minutes; both had minor injuries.
Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board actions followed.

Power Loss, Split-Second Choices, Cold Water

Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany said the pilot warned, “We are going down. Pull your seatbelt tight,” as their Beechcraft K35 lost power on final approach over Lake Wausau on a Saturday evening. The airplane hit the water, settled, and began to sink. Tiffany and pilot Leonard Boltz unlatched, got out, and swam toward shore. Local reports and emergency audio match that timeline and confirm two people in the water and a fast rescue.

Dispatch audio captured the urgency. Responders said, “We have two victims in the water,” then minutes later, “just pulling them out now.” Fire crews reached them by airboat shortly after 9 p.m., according to local coverage that tracked the call and the rescue window. Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, Wausau Fire Department, and Wausau police coordinated the scene, while the airplane slipped below the surface near the approach path.

Injuries, Treatment, And A Walkout

Tiffany received 12 stitches above his right eye. The pilot received four stitches. Doctors performed a computed tomography scan on Tiffany and found no concussion, according to local reports that cited hospital care. Both men were released. Tiffany later thanked first responders by name and credited the pilot’s calm actions during the glide and touchdown. He said the pilot retracted the landing gear to keep the airplane from catching and flipping on contact with the lake.

Reporters on the shoreline described a quick handoff from rescue to medical care. The detail in those accounts matters. Specific stitch counts, the lack of head trauma, and named agencies reduce doubt about the basic picture. The airplane type, a single-engine, four-seat Beechcraft Bonanza K35 V-tail, matches photographs and multiple reports. The occupancy was two, and both survivors were ambulatory soon after the rescue, which squares with the medical notes shared with the press.

What Investigators Will Do Next

The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the power loss event, and the National Transportation Safety Board described the standard process that follows. The National Transportation Safety Board says a preliminary report usually posts in about a month. A final report with probable cause often takes one to two years, especially in general aviation cases that need parts examinations, records reviews, and analysis. That timeline reflects discipline, not delay, and helps prevent guesswork from becoming lore.

Tom Tiffany tearfully recounts making an emergency water landing in Lake Wausau Saturday night https://t.co/A3Sq29Flb5

— WBAY-TV 2 (@WBAY) September 14, 2026

The core facts are firm. The airplane lost power near the runway. The pilot aimed for the lake and executed a controlled water landing. Two men got out and swam. Local fire and law enforcement pulled them in and moved them to care. That aligns with common-sense airmanship. Aviators are taught to fly the airplane to the best landing area and preserve life first. Conservative values favor that clear chain of duty, skill, and gratitude over spin or theater.

Why This Survival Stood Up To Stress

Water landings punish hesitation. Drag rises fast once the fuselage touches, and time to exit shrinks. Training helps, but judgment under pressure saves lives. Tiffany’s praise of the pilot’s steady voice and gear choice echoes decades of ditching guidance. Keep the wings level, reduce descent, and avoid catching a wheel or strut that can cartwheel the airplane. That does not assign cause for the power loss, which investigators will handle, but it explains why both men made it out alive.

Emergency response also mattered. An airboat cuts the time that cold water has to do harm. Quick coordination between the county dispatcher, sheriff’s deputies, and fire crews closed the gap from distress to rescue. That system worked as designed. Local reporting captured the sequence with enough detail to map it without drama. The event will now move from human story to technical case file, where maintenance records, fuel data, and engine inspections belong.