On Tuesday evening, a small plane carrying 5 adults and 1 child crashed into a forest in Dellona town, Sauk County, Wisconsin, resulting in the tragic deaths of all passengers on board.
Authorities confirmed that all 6 individuals on board the aircraft were found dead at the scene, but their identities have not been disclosed.
According to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office, the Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage aircraft was en route from Kenosha to Menomonie when it crashed in Dellona town.
Shortly after receiving multiple reports of the plane crash around 9:31 p.m., emergency rescue personnel were dispatched to the Park Lane area. The wreckage of the aircraft was discovered in a dense forest west of Herwig Road. Rescue teams immediately started searching for survivors and verifying the aircraft model and the number of people on board.
Prior to the crash, the aircraft had been in communication with air traffic control. Authorities are investigating the final communication records between the aircraft and air traffic control to understand what happened in the final moments and whether weather conditions in the area may have played a role.
Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister told FOX6 Milwaukee TV station, “We know they had contact with the tower before the crash.”
Meister confirmed that it was not a commercial aircraft, but the ownership of the aircraft is currently unknown. The Sheriff’s Office confirmed that no buildings were damaged, and there were no reports of injuries to ground personnel.
As of Wednesday, the crash site remained cordoned off, and investigators were working diligently to piece together all the details of this fatal aviation accident.
The Sheriff’s Office stated that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been notified and will lead the investigation into the cause of the crash.
According to the latest reports from the Associated Press, the pilot had reported to air traffic control about ice accumulation on the wings as the plane was flying through a thunderstorm. The Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that a thunderstorm was hitting Dellona town at the time of the incident with accompanying rainfall.
Wing icing is a major safety hazard in aviation, as even a thin layer of ice can make it difficult for an aircraft to maintain flight.
The NTSB stated that the pilot reported wing icing to air traffic control at 24,000 feet (7315 meters) altitude and requested permission to descend. The air traffic control approved the descent, and the aircraft began a right descending turn with increasing speed until communication and data tracking were lost.