Six Killed in Wisconsin Plane Crash; Investigators Examine Final Air-Traffic Contact

A small aircraft carrying six people crashed in Sauk County, Wisconsin, Tuesday night, killing everyone aboard, according to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators are examining the aircraft’s communications with air traffic control before the crash and whether weather conditions may have contributed.

The aircraft, identified as a Piper PA-46, was returning from Kenosha to Menomonie when it went down in the Town of Dellona, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities received several reports of a downed aircraft at about 9:31 p.m. Tuesday and sent emergency crews to the area near Park Lane.

Responders found the wreckage in a densely wooded location west of Herwig Road. Crews initially searched for possible survivors while officials worked to establish what aircraft had crashed and how many people were on board. All six occupants were ultimately found dead at the scene, authorities said. Their identities had not been released in the source report.

Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister told FOX6 Milwaukee that the plane had been in contact with a nearby air traffic control tower before it crashed. He said investigators were seeking to determine what was communicated. The supplied report did not detail the contents of the contact or identify any distress call.

Officials are also assessing whether weather in the area could have been a factor. No findings about the cause of the crash were reported, and the investigation remained ongoing Wednesday.

Meister said the aircraft was not a commercial plane, but its owner had not been determined. The sheriff’s office reported no damage to structures and no injuries on the ground. The crash site was secured as investigators worked to reconstruct the flight and circumstances of the impact.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were notified and are to lead the investigation into the cause, according to the sheriff’s office. The source material provided no further details about the aircraft’s condition, the weather at the time, or the identities of those killed.