Wisconsin Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany described the harrowing moments leading up to his plane crash in Lake Wausau on Saturday, recounting the pilot's urgent warning just seconds before impact.
"As we were making that final turn before we were going to approach for landing, the pilot turned to me and said, ‘Tom, we are going down, pull your seatbelt as tight as possible,’" Tiffany told Fox News. "It was like staring into the abyss. And you don’t know how far down it is."
The four-seat Beechcraft Bonanza suddenly lost power, forcing an emergency landing on the lake. Tiffany sustained a gash to his head that required 12 stitches, while the pilot received four stitches. Both men were able to swim to shore and were rescued by local authorities.
"We looked at each other and said, ‘Are you okay?'" the congressman recalled. With the plane beginning to sink, they exited the aircraft and swam toward the shore.
"I can’t thank them enough for what they did, but it’s by the grace of God that we are here today," Tiffany stated, adding that the incident "happened so quickly" that it was difficult to process.
The cause of the power loss is currently under investigation. Tiffany was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner and en route to Wausau Downtown Airport when the crash occurred.
Tiffany has represented Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District since 2020. He is currently in a gubernatorial race against Democrat David Crowley. A recent poll indicated Crowley leading Tiffany by a narrow margin among likely voters.