Republican congressman and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany walked away with stitches and a CT scan after his single-engine plane lost power Saturday night and sank in Lake Wausau, forcing the 68-year-old lawmaker and his 73-year-old pilot to swim for their lives.

The four-seat Beechcraft Bonanza K35 was on final approach to Wausau Downtown Airport when the engine quit. Pilot Leonard Boltz, 73, had just enough time to deliver a terse warning before putting the aircraft down on the water. The plane hit Lake Wausau at roughly 9:00 PM local time, according to the Marathon County Sheriff's office, and began sinking almost immediately. Both men climbed out of the submerging cockpit in the dark, well after sunset, and swam to a shallow area to wait for help.

Sixteen minutes after their 911 call, first responders from the Marathon County Sheriff's office and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reached them by boat, Breitbart reported. Both men were alert and conscious when rescuers arrived. They were transported to Aspirus Wausau Hospital in the Wausau area, treated, and released.

Tiffany, who has represented Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District since 2020 and is now the Republican nominee for governor, posted a detailed account on Facebook shortly after the ordeal. He had been flying home from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner, a routine party event in western Wisconsin, when the engine failed.

Boltz told Tiffany to pull his seatbelt tight seconds before impact

At a news conference after his release from the hospital, Tiffany recounted the moment the plane lost power. Fox News reported that Tiffany described the pilot's warning in blunt terms:

"Len said to me, 'We are going down. Pull your seatbelt tight.'"

Tiffany suffered a gash above his right eye that required 12 stitches and underwent a CT scan. Boltz received four stitches. Neither man's injuries were life-threatening, but both had to navigate a sinking aircraft in the dark before swimming to shallow water, a situation that could have ended far worse.

In his Facebook post, Tiffany walked through the sequence step by step:

"After landing, we called 911. 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."

He credited the pilot, the Wausau Fire Department, and all the first responders who arrived quickly. At the hospital, Tiffany reunited with his wife, Chris. The investigation into what caused the engine failure has been handed over to the Federal Aviation Administration. No preliminary findings have been made public.

The incident is another reminder that members of Congress face real physical risks outside the Capitol, from sudden federal probes at a lawmaker's home to emergency landings on a Wisconsin lake. Tiffany's close call drew immediate attention across conservative media.

'God was watching over us,' Tiffany said from the hospital

Tiffany struck a grateful tone in his public remarks. The New York Post reported his full statement from the hospital:

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

He added: "I want to express my deepest gratitude to the pilot, the Wausau Fire Department, and all of the first responders who came to our aid so quickly."

At the post-rescue news conference, Tiffany expanded on the theme. "We are just really fortunate. We're really fortunate that God was looking after us last night," he said.

The crash comes at a high-stakes moment in Tiffany's political career. He left his congressional seat to run for governor and is locked in a tight race against Democrat David Crowley. A Marquette Law School poll released at the end of August showed the two candidates tied at 44 percent among registered voters, with 12 percent undecided.

Tiffany's open congressional seat already has a Trump-backed successor

Tiffany's departure from the House opened Wisconsin's 7th District, a seat Republicans have held for 15 years. The district was previously represented by Sean Duffy, who resigned for family reasons and now serves as President Trump's Transportation Secretary.

Michael Alfonso, Duffy's 26-year-old son-in-law, won the GOP primary for the seat over four other candidates, including Jessi Ebben, Kevin Hermening, Niina Threlfall-Baum, and Cheryl Ann Runkel. Alfonso faced criticism during the primary over his young age and his in-laws' influence in the race.

President Trump endorsed Alfonso on Truth Social, calling the endorsement a "great honor" and describing the young candidate as a "MAGA warrior" and a "STAR." Trump touted Alfonso's support for energy dominance, the Second Amendment, and border and election security. With questions already swirling about GOP turnout in races where Trump himself is not on the ballot, the endorsement carries extra weight in a traditionally safe Republican district.

The FAA has not yet disclosed any findings about what caused the Bonanza's engine to fail on approach. The Daily Mail reported that the cause remains under investigation. Whether the aircraft had any prior mechanical history, what model year the Bonanza was, and whether the pilot filed any distress communications before the 911 call are all unanswered.

Tiffany's survival, and his quick return to public statements, means the Wisconsin governor's race continues without interruption. The steady stream of headline-making incidents involving sitting and former members of Congress this year shows no sign of slowing down.

A 68-year-old congressman climbed out of a sinking plane in the dark, swam to safety, got 12 stitches, and went back to running for governor. The first responders who reached him in 16 minutes deserve every word of thanks he gave them.