Rep. Tom Tiffany and pilot escape after Bonanza ditches in Lake Wausau

A single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza K35 carrying U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) came down on Lake Wausau in central Wisconsin on Saturday evening after the aircraft lost power, according to Tiffany's own account posted the following day.

Tiffany said he was flying back from a dinner in Onalaska, Wisconsin, when the Bonanza lost power. He did not say whether the loss was partial or complete. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he said the pilot, Leonard Boltz, tried to restart the engine but could not get it going, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The K35 is powered by one piston engine.

Tiffany was the only passenger on board. Both men suffered minor injuries. A fire department airboat pulled them from the water. Tiffany told reporters the two stood on top of the aircraft for roughly 10 minutes while it sank, then swam about 150 feet to a sandbar to wait for help.

He recalled Boltz warning him to hold on and buckle up because they were going down, and estimated the aircraft struck the water about 10 seconds later.

John Chmiel, manager of Wausau Downtown Airport and owner of Wausau Flying Service, visited the site on Sunday and told WPR that Boltz managed to retract the landing gear before impact, which he called a very difficult thing to do safely. Chmiel said Boltz did everything right once the problem arose.

Preliminary information posted by the Marathon County Sheriff's Office on Facebook on Sunday said the two landed on the lake Saturday evening after a mechanical issue was reported while on approach to Wausau Downtown Airport, their intended destination. The airport sits next to the lake.

Emergency dispatchers in Marathon County received a call about the aircraft, the sheriff's office said.