Six dead, including a child, in Piper crash near Wisconsin Dells
The crash happened on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, when a Piper PA-46 flying from Kenosha to Menomonie went down in a wooded area in the Town of Dellona. Investigators are now reviewing air traffic control transmissions and whether weather played a role.
The crash
On Tuesday, 13 October 2026, a six-seat, single-engine Piper PA-46 went down in a wooded area near Mirror Lake State Park, in the Town of Dellona close to Wisconsin Dells. The Sauk County Sheriff's Department said it received multiple reports of a downed aircraft around 9:30 p.m. Five adults and one child who were on board were found dead. Police said no structures or people on the ground were damaged or hurt, and the names of the dead had not been released. Rain was falling as a thunderstorm moved through the area.
- Adults
- 5 people
- Child
- 1 people
Flight path and last contact
The plane was travelling from Kenosha to Menomonie. The National Transportation Safety Board said on 14 October that the aircraft was at 24,000 feet (7,315 meters) when the pilot reported icing and asked to descend. Air traffic control approved the descent. The plane then began a right descending turn that grew steeper until communications and data tracking were lost. Before the crash, the Piper had contacted a nearby air traffic control tower, and investigators are reviewing those transmissions and whether weather played a role.
Differing accounts of the time
The Independent put the crash shortly before 10 p.m., while the Washington Post and the New York Times cited about 9:30 p.m. Blick gave the time as 21.31 Uhr. The sheriff's office's figure of around 9:30 p.m. is the one that appears most consistently across the reports, but the sources do not fully agree on the exact moment.
Investigation and open questions
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating alongside local authorities. Sheriff Chip Meister said in a statement on Wednesday, 14 October, that few details were immediately available. Early reports did not confirm the type of aircraft, the number of victims or their identities, although the aircraft has since been identified as a Piper PA-46. The crash killed all people on board, and no survivors were reported.