5 adults, 1 child confirmed dead in Sauk County plane crash
SAUK COUNTY, Wis. (WMTV) - Six people have died in a plane crash in the Town of Dellona, Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister confirmed to WMTV Wednesday morning.
Meister confirmed five adults and one child were killed in that crash. He says these were the only people on board the six-passenger plane, and there were no survivors. WMTV 15 News is working to learn their names and ages.
The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened around 9:31 p.m. Authorities received several reports of a downed aircraft in the area of Park Lane. Law enforcement on scene confirmed this is a residential neighborhood near Mirror Lake State Park.
According to deputies, the plane was a fixed-wing Piper flying on a return trip from Kenosha to Menomonie.
Drone footage shows the wreckage from the crash site in a wooded area.
Authorities are also working to learn what transmissions the plane had with a nearby air traffic control tower, and if weather played a role in the crash.
“We know that they had contact with the tower prior to the crash,” said Meister. ”Investigators are looking into that today to find out what that communication was.”
The scene is secured as of 6:35 a.m. as investigators work to determine the circumstances surrounding the crash. Meister asked the public to avoid the area.
No one on the ground was hurt, and no buildings were damaged in the crash.
Randi Kubek, who lives near the site, said she was meditating in her home with her dogs when she heard an unmistakable sound.
“It was definitely a sound of a plane coming down,” Kubek said. “I head engines sputtering, it was cutting in and out. I knew this plane was in distress and it was getting so loud so fast. It sounded like the footage that you like see of World War II, Pearl Harbor, you know, planes losing altitude quickly. It was just not like any sound I have ever been personally a part of.”
She also says she saw lots of light in the sky, including lightning.
“The sky lit up, but I wasn’t sure whether that was more in a series of lightning that I had seen out in the sky or whether it was simultaneous with that crunching metal, the very loud crunching metal and an impact that I could feel in my house. I could feel it,” explained Kubek.
Kubek said she learned of the plane crash after a friend texted her about it.
Mark Schmitz works in the area. He says he heard loud sounds when he was outside with friends.
“Terrible. I remember that sound for quite a while now,” said Schmitz.
He says since the crash, the area has had lots of commotion with fire, EMS and law enforcement vehicles.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been notified and will be assisting in the investigation.
The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Lake Delton Police Department, Delton Fire Department, Dells/Delton EMS, Sauk County Coroner’s Office, and Wisconsin State Patrol.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
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