The Aporia · GOP congressman from Wisconsin swims to safety after plane makes emergency landing in a lake

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican from Wisconsin, had to swim to safety after his small plane experienced engine failure during approach to Wausau Downtown Airport on Saturday evening. The pilot performed an emergency landing in Lake Wausau, where both individuals safely reached the shore by swimming. No injuries were reported.

Written by the local model on 2026-09-13, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

Story summary

Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, had to swim to safety after his plane made an emergency landing on Lake Wausau late Saturday night while he was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner. The single-engine Bonanza aircraft lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport, forcing the pilot to make a water landing in the lake. Both Tiffany and the pilot exited the plane as it began to submerge, swimming to a shallow area until emergency responders reached them by boat. They were then taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Tiffany expressed his gratitude towards the Wausau Fire Department and other first responders for their quick assistance. His Democratic opponent, David Crowley, also commented on the incident, stating that he was "grateful to God" that Congressman Tiffany was not seriously injured in what could have been a tragic event due to the pilot's heroism.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed it would investigate the crash of a Beechcraft K35 aircraft with two people aboard.

Written for “Wisconsin Congressman Plane Emergency” on 2026-09-14, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.

No political leaning scored for article 8536 · logged 2026-09-13

📰 Wisconsin Congressman Plane Emergency

Politics · 4 article(s) covering the same event.

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany in hospital after plane forced to make emergency landing on lake same event · 100%

The Independent

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 15 📰 publisher trust 59

“Both articles describe U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany swimming to safety after a plane he was traveling in made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau on Saturday night, with identical details about the event.”

Wisconsin Congressman suffers minor injury after lake emergency landing same event · 100%

CBS News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 1 of 9 📰 publisher trust 60

“Both articles describe Rep. Tom Tiffany's emergency plane landing on Lake Wausau, his injury, and swimming to safety after losing power en route to Wausau Downtown Airport.”

Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany sustains minor injuries after emergency landing on lake same event · 100%

NBC News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 18% hedged 2 of 11 📰 publisher trust 95

“Both articles describe Rep. Tom Tiffany swimming to safety after his plane made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau on the same date and time.”

Toronto Star · 381 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

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The Associated Press

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Republican U.S. WAUSAU Wis. the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner

Republican NORP · 1× Tom Tiffany PERSON · 1× U.S. GPE · 1× WAUSAU GPE · 1× Wis. GPE · 1×

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany says he was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner when the light aircraft lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-13

2026-09-13 · Toronto Star

GOP congressman from Wisconsin swims to safety after plane makes emergency landing in a lake · assertive framing

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A Republican congressman said he had to swim to safety after a plane he was traveling in made an emergency landing in a lake late Saturday. asserted

he → say → lake

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany says he was returning from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner when the light aircraft lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport. asserted

it → say → Airport

The pilot made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau. asserted

pilot → make → Wausau

They both ended up in the water and swam to safety. asserted

They → end → safety

GOP congressman from Wisconsin swims to safety after plane makes emergency landing in a lake

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