Wisconsin lawmaker recalls fear at being told plane was crashing into lake: ‘Like staring into abyss’

Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany recalled the terrifying moment he was told the plane he was in was about to crash into a lake — saying it was only “by the grace of God” he and his pilot survived.

The Republican lawmaker, a gubernatorial hopeful, escaped with just a gash to his head after the four-seat Beechcraft Bonanza he was in suddenly lost power and made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau on Saturday.

“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,” he told Fox News late Monday.

“It was like staring into the abyss. And you don’t know how far down it is,” he added.

Rep. Tom Tiffany survived a plane crash on Saturday. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“I pulled that seatbelt as tight as I could, and it was just a couple seconds later, we hit the water, and we hit it hard.”

Rep. Tiffany appeared on TV sporting a cut above his eye that required 12 stitches, the only injury he suffered, thanks to the skilled efforts of the pilot to keep the aircraft upright and afloat as it hit the water.

“We looked at each other and said, ‘Are you okay?'” the congressman recalled.

With the damaged plane beginning to sink, they quickly worked to force the door open and swim away from the aircraft toward the shore, where they were rescued by local law enforcement and first responders.

Rep. Tom Tiffany recounts the seconds before his plane crashed into the water. Fox News

“I can’t thank them enough for what they did, but it’s by the grace of God that we are here today,” Tiffany said.

He added that the entire incident “happened so quickly” that it was hard to piece together.

The pilot, who has not been publicly identified, required four stitches after the crash but was otherwise uninjured. No one else was on board the aircraft.

The cause of the aircraft’s sudden loss of power remains under investigation.

Tiffany had been returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner en route to Wausau Downtown Airport at the time of the crash.

He has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District since 2020, when he won the seat previously held by Sean Duffy, President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary.

Tiffany is going against Democrat David Crowley in November in the race to be Wisconsin’s Governor.

A first head-to-head poll since Aug. 11’s primary showed Rep. Crowley leading Rep. Tiffany by 49 to 44 among likely voters, although the pair are tied 44-44 among registered voters.