This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this writing will be corrected when/if the NTSB preliminary report is released.
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N6071E
- History of Flight:
On September 12, 2026, at about 2049 local time, a privately-registered Beechcraft K35 Bonanza, N6071E, sustained substantial damage in a ditching near Wausau, Wisconsin. The airline transport pilot and passenger suffered minor injuries. The personal flight was destined to Wausau Municipal Airport (AUW/KAUW), Wausau, Wisconsin.
The FAA reported that the airplane experienced engine issues and landed in Lake Wausau.
There is no ADS-B data for the accident flight. The airplane came to rest about 1200 ft short of runway 13.
The accident airplane, serial number D-6021, was a 5-seat, low-wing, with a distinctive V-tail and manufactured in 1959. It was powered by a single Continental IO-470 engine rated at 260 hp.
The pilot, aged 73, who is also the registered owner, holds an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multiengine land rating an airplane single engine land rating. He also holds a flight instructor and mechanic certificate. His second class FAA medical was issued on May 2025, with a note that states he must use corrective lens(es) to meet vision standards at all required distances. The pilot holds a type rating in the Airbus A320, Boeing 727, Boeing 747-4, and DC-10.
The passenger, Tom Tiffany, is the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin in the upcoming 2026 election.
- Weather:
METAR KAUW 130054Z AUTO 27005KT 10SM CLR 17/10 A2992 RMK AO2 SLP134 T01670100 $
METAR KAUW 130154Z AUTO 29007KT 10SM CLR 17/10 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP142 T01720100 $
