Wisconsin Plane Crash Kills Six, Including Child
Authorities are investigating the final communications between the aircraft and air traffic control.
A small plane carrying five adults and a child crashed in a wooded area in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, killing all six occupants. The aircraft, a Piper PA-46, was en route from Kenosha to Menomonie when it went down in the Town of Dellona in Sauk County.
Authorities received multiple reports of a downed aircraft around 9:31 p.m. and dispatched emergency crews to the area. First responders discovered the wreckage in a densely wooded area west of Herwig Road. All six occupants were found deceased at the scene; their identities have not yet been released.
Investigators are examining the communications between the aircraft and a nearby air traffic control tower prior to the crash, as well as potential contributing factors such as weather conditions. "We know that they had contact with the tower prior to the crash and investigators are looking into that today to find out what that communication was," Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister stated.
It is currently unclear who owned the aircraft, but officials confirmed it was not a commercial plane. No structures were damaged, and no injuries were reported on the ground.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been notified and will lead the investigation into the cause of the crash. The crash site remained secured as investigators worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the deadly flight.