US congressman swims to safety after his plane is forced to land on a lake

Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany has remarked he sustained minor injuries after a plane he was on landed on a lake, forcing him and the pilot to swim to safety.

Key points

• Tiffany was coming home from a dinner in La Crosse County when the plane suddenly lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport, he remarked on Sunday.
• "God was watching over us tonight, and I am incredibly grateful to be here in the hospital with my wife, Chris, by my side, " Tiffany remarked.
• Tiffany remarked he and the pilot called 911 once they landed.
• He received a small cut over his right eye in the incident, his campaign remarked.
• The plane remains in the lake as emergency crews work to remove it, the office continued.

Tiffany, the state's Republican nominee for governor, was travelling in a small plane on Saturday night when the aircraft encountered a mechanical matter, forcing the pilot to produce an emergency landing in Lake Wausau, the county sheriff's office noted. Tiffany remarked he and the pilot called 911 once they landed.

"As the plane began to submerge, we exited the aircraft and swam to a shallow area, where we waited until emergency responders reached us by boat, " Tiffany wrote on social media. The pilot additionally sustained minor injuries.

Authorities received a 911 report of a plane crash on the lake at 20: 49 local time (02: 49 BST), the Marathon County Sheriff's office remarked in a press release. The pair managed to obtain out of the plane and to shallow water where a Wausau Fire Department airboat rescued them concerning 15 minutes afterwards, at 21: 05 local time, according to the sheriff's office.

Notably, the office remarked Tiffany and the pilot were the only two residents on board the Beechcraft K35 – a single-engine plane, additionally known as a Bonanza, that can carry up to five residents.

"God was watching over us tonight, and I am incredibly grateful to be here in the hospital with my wife, Chris, by my side, " Tiffany remarked. "An experience like this reminds you just how precious life is."

In practice, the cause of the mechanical matter was not immediately clear, and the sheriff's office stated the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.

In practice, the plane remains in the lake as emergency crews work to remove it, the office continued.

Taken together, the developments around US congressman swims to safety after his plane is forced to land point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.