‘God Was Looking After Us’: Congressman Survives Emergency Plane Landing in Lake
A member of the U.S. House of Representatives is crediting God’s hand of protection after a private airplane carrying him was forced to make an emergency landing in a Wisconsin lake Sunday, leaving him with only minor injuries.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor, was on a campaign tour of several cities across the state Sunday when his airplane lost power as it approached Wausau, a city in central Wisconsin. His pilot, Len Boltz — the only other person aboard — told him they were not going to make it to the runway.
“Len said to me, ‘We are going down. Pull your seatbelt tight.’ And that's exactly what I did. I gave it a yank and pulled it good and tight,” Tiffany said during a news conference.
Tiffany, visibly shaken and fighting back tears, estimated the plane landed in Lake Wausau about 10 seconds later.
Significantly, Boltz pulled up the plane’s landing gear, preventing the Beechcraft K35 Bonanza from potentially flipping and breaking apart — an action that may have spared the two men.
“He did that and might have saved us as a result of doing that,” Tiffany said. “I’m just grateful for the Lord for sparing us to see another day.”
After the plane “settled” on the water, Tiffany said, the two men began plotting their next move. Tiffany lost his phone during the landing, but Boltz still had his and called 911.
The two men stood on the airplane until it began to sink, then swam about 100 feet until they reached a spot in the lake where they could stand. When help arrived, first responders in boats made their way to the men and took them to shore, where ambulances transported them to the hospital. Boltz suffered a wound that required four stitches, while Tiffany received 12 stitches above his eyebrow.
The first responders were heroic in their response, the representative said.
“We’re very fortunate,” Tiffany said, “that God was looking after us.”
Photo Credit: ©C-SPAN - ScreenGrab
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published September 15, 2026.
