Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany and his pilot survived a nighttime emergency landing on Lake Wausau after their single-engine plane lost power on final approach to Wausau Downtown Airport, an ordeal that left Tiffany with a gash above his right eye requiring 12 stitches and prompted a desperate search by first responders.
Tiffany, who represents Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District, recounted the crash at a news conference Sunday, hours after being released from Aspirus Wausau Hospital. He said pilot Leonard «Len» Boltz had only seconds to react after the aircraft lost power. «Len said to me, 'We are going down. Pull your seatbelt tight,'» Tiffany recalled. «And that's exactly what I did. I gave it a yank and pulled it good and tight.» About ten seconds later, he added, «We hit the water.»
The impact sent Tiffany's head into the dashboard, causing the gash that required stitches. Boltz received four stitches for one of his injuries. The two men checked on each other before escaping through the passenger-side door as the plane began filling with water. Tiffany searched the cockpit for his phone but could not find it; Boltz still had his and called 911.
They climbed atop the slowly sinking plane and waited there for roughly ten minutes as emergency lights appeared around the lake. As the aircraft slipped underwater beneath them, they began swimming toward the airport. They made it roughly 100 to 150 feet before Tiffany reached a high spot in the lake where the water was about five feet deep. «I said to Len, 'Let's just stay right here until help can come,' because we could see the sirens,» Tiffany said, his voice cracking as the gravity of the ordeal appeared to catch up with him. «We are just really fortunate,» he added, pausing as he became emotional. «We're really fortunate that God was looking after us last night.»
Dispatch audio captured the uncertainty confronting first responders as they raced toward different points along Lake Wausau. «Can you get another ambulance rolling this way and one more engine, please?» one responder said. «Also page SAFER mutual aid to Bluegill Park with a boat.» Another responder reported that a witness had seen the aircraft go down but could provide only a general search area. Crews carried thermal-imaging equipment and used a phone's last known GPS coordinates to narrow the search. A landowner also provided a boat for deputies to use, according to the radio traffic. «I believe his phone is underwater,» one responder said. «They may be swimming south, I believe.» The tense search ended when rescuers announced both men had been located. «We have two victims in the water,» a responder said. «We're just pulling them out now.» Minutes later, a crew reported both were «alert, conscious» and confirmed everyone aboard had been accounted for.
Tiffany credited Boltz's experience with keeping the emergency landing from becoming deadly. The former Air Force pilot trainer raised the plane's landing gear before touching down, preventing it from potentially cartwheeling across the water. «He was savvy enough and quick enough to think about, 'We've got to make sure and pull that landing gear up,'» Tiffany said. «He did that, and it might have saved us.» Tiffany estimated the plane was still traveling between 70 and 80 mph when it hit the lake, describing the impact as «a fast-moving car crash.» «We're fortunate the plane didn't flip,» he said. «I just take that to the skill of the pilot.»
Wausau Mayor Doug Diny, a former military pilot, also praised Boltz for safely bringing the aircraft down at night. «The last thing anyone wants to do as a pilot is put the aircraft in the water at night,» Diny said. Tiffany said a CT scan found no apparent concussion, though doctors instructed him to watch for possible symptoms and avoid flying for several days. Despite canceling a trip to Washington, D.C., he said he plans to return to the campaign trail Monday. «This will not deter me in my efforts that I started a year ago to become the next governor of the state of Wisconsin,» he said. The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza remained submerged Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what caused it to lose power. House Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated Tiffany's return following the close call, writing on X: «Grateful to God no one was hurt in this accident and my good friend @TomTiffanyWI is safe and back on the trail!»