House member Tom Tiffany (R-WI) Bonanza -- Water Landing

ADS-B? Was it shut off because his mission was secret? All the attention is on Tiffany and his near death having to wade to shore.

I don't see any containment around the aircraft for leaking fuel (no need to worry because they were out of fuel).

I found out during the Exxon Valdez efforts I was on, that one gallon of crude will create a rainbow sheen for 1 sq/mi.
 
Lindberg said:
I thought they ran out of gas?
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Several things are going on here. The pilot has an interesting history of funneling political funds that are against the law. Another is that they said they put the gear up, but it was found to have the gear down. Zero electronic tracking of the flights.

The possibility that they ran out of gas is probably the #1 cause, but it could have been a decent into the water due to spatial disorientation. I also believe alcohol was involved and the histrionics of hizzoner to protect his friend.
 
FlightmechH3 said:
Several things are going on here. The pilot has an interesting history of funneling political funds that are against the law. Another is that they said they put the gear up, but it was found to have the gear down. Zero electronic tracking of the flights.

The possibility that they ran out of gas is probably the #1 cause, but it could have been a decent into the water due to spatial disorientation. I also believe alcohol was involved and the histrionics of hizzoner to protect his friend.
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When did the mayor of New York get involved?
 
StraightnLevel said:
I have a J35 with tip tanks - 6 individual tanks, w/three selector valves. I use it for long cross country flights on a regular basis, so I am filling and using all 6 as my default config.
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Curious... on a Bonanza tank normally selected to be used for landing, is the fuel pick up tube located in the back of the tank, thereby allowing a low amount of remaining fuel to shift forward when the nose is lowered during the descent?
 
FlightmechH3 said:
I cringed at some of his comments that "God was looking out for him" and that he cannot return to DC to vote because it was unsafe due to his injuries.

Please.
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Yep, both brain cells leaked out that forehead laceration all right.

Jim Carpenter said:
Always love that angels or god thing, so, they were on coffee break when the engine quit?
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This. Kinda reminds me of our former governor. Apparently God told him to run for President, and then a mere nine weeks later God told him NOT to run for President. :rolleyes:

FlightmechH3 said:
ADS-B? Was it shut off because his mission was secret? All the attention is on Tiffany and his near death having to wade to shore.
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The last flight I can find from that aircraft, it was broadcasting on UAT (978MHz). Most of the receivers out there only get data from 1090MHz boxes, and while that plane does appear in that area at other times, another feature of the UAT boxes is an "anonymous mode" that can be enabled when they're squawking 1200. So, just because we can't find data for that particular flight doesn't mean it was turned off.

FlightmechH3 said:
I don't see any containment around the aircraft for leaking fuel (no need to worry because they were out of fuel).

I found out during the Exxon Valdez efforts I was on, that one gallon of crude will create a rainbow sheen for 1 sq/mi.
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"Lake Wausau" is actually just a reservoir on the Wisconsin River, so it's possible that any visual evidence of fuel was long downstream by the next morning.

Screenshot-2026-09-13-at-8.29.02-AM.png.webp
 
Just saw the crash video. The aircraft engine did not quit and it was making power as it descended (crashed) into the water.

Both of them are lying about what happened.
 
I went and watched ADS-B Exchange from 0000Z to 0200Z. It does appear that they have a UAT receiver that can "see" the immediate vicinity of La Crosse (KLSE). I did not see any sign of N6071E, so either they were in Anonymous Mode or turned off.

I then went and listened to LiveATC. Their feed for KLSE tower doesn't appear to pick up aircraft very well. However, it makes me wonder how Tiffany got to La Crosse in the first place - N6071E *arrives* at LSE around 0031Z, so the pilot was not at the dinner, and either didn't bring Tiffany to LSE, or dropped him off, left and came back. :dunno: Tower sent him to the right downwind for 36, then the pilot asked for 31 and was told to report right base for 31. They did so a good 9 minutes later at 0040Z, were cleared to land, and then the pilot asked them to turn the lights up all the way for 31. Night vision issues maybe? Asked for and was given confirmation that he was cleared to land at 0043Z, then Left 36 and Left A1 to parking at 0044Z.

Cleared to taxi to 36 via A1 at 0059Z. Cleared for takeoff 36 at 0105Z. "Upon leaving class Delta, frequency change is approved" at 0106Z.

I also listened to ZMP Sector 5 Low and Sector 4 Low. N6071E did not make any attempt to get flight following.
 
Rick A said:
Curious... on a Bonanza tank normally selected to be used for landing, is the fuel pick up tube located in the back of the tank, thereby allowing a low amount of remaining fuel to shift forward when the nose is lowered during the descent?
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Good question. I don't know.

What I can say is that there is a required procedure to never take off with less than 13 gallons in the selected main tank. There is also a limited forward slip time. Both of these are a result of fuel starvation issues. Takeoff and landing are only done on the two main inboard tanks, not aux or tip tanks. This should not be an issue, as pressurized fuel returns to the left main @10 gal /hour(except for right main, which returns to right main). Verifying correct tank selected for landing is part of GUMPS in a Bo.

My assumption is that the accumulator under the main selector valve is intended to ride through most normal scenarios in the pattern, so pickup location is not an issue unless you're not following the correct fuel management procedures.

One item to note: At cruise power, the accumulator holds 45-50 seconds of fuel. If you inadvertently select an empty tank (or failed to bleed the lines during taxi and run-up), the engine will continue to run until the accumulator runs dry, then sputter just barely long enough to allow you to fix the mistake.
 
FlightmechH3 said:
Just saw the crash video. The aircraft engine did not quit and it was making power as it descended (crashed) into the water.
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Hard to tell for sure because of low res, but the prop tip does not appear deformed in the picture you posted.
 
Someone over on beechtalk was present for the recovery. The prop blade was indeed bent but no tip curling, so it would appear to not have been making power when it hit the water. Gear down, flaps up, so consistent with them just flying it into the lake on takeoff. Lots of conjecture of not understanding the fuel system over there.
 
For those not familiar:

K35 Fuel System
2 25 gallon Main Tanks, one in each wing
2 10 gallon Auxiliary Tanks, one mounted outboard of each Main Tank

These are general numbers.
Fuel pump delivers 25gph
Engine uses ~15gph
10gph returned

You have Four choices on the Fuel Tank Selector.
Left Main
Right Main
Auxiliary
Off

The two Auxiliary tank are plumbed as one,
you are drawing from each tank when Aux is selected.

THAT 10gph of EXCESS FUEL IS ONLY RETURNED TO THE LEFT MAIN,
REGARDLESS OF WHICH TANK YOU ARE DRAWING FROM.

YOU MUST DRAW FROM THE LEFT MAIN FIRST
TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE RETURNED FUEL!

If the Left Main is full,
returned fuel will be pumped overboard.

This where some pilots get caught.
 
MKERSW said:
For those not familiar:

THAT 10gph of EXCESS FUEL IS ONLY RETURNED TO THE LEFT MAIN,
REGARDLESS OF WHICH TANK YOU ARE DRAWING FROM.
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Not to be too nit-picky, but when using fuel from the Right Main, the over-pressure is returned to the Right Main, not the Left Main.

As delivered from the factory, the early Bonanzas only had one fuel level indicator, with selectors for each tank. [My J35 has an aftermarket display that shows all 6 continuously.]


From an online report re: the pilot:

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.

ATP, current Class 3 medical, handful of type ratings.
 
FlightmechH3 said:
Just saw the crash video. The aircraft engine did not quit and it was making power as it descended (crashed) into the water.

Both of them are lying about what happened.
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Disband the NTSB! FlightmechH3 saw a shaky cell phone video and has this caper cracked before lunch.
 
wanttaja said:
I did a study along those lines a few years ago, using my homebuilt accident database.

For my analysis, I use "Pilot Miscontrol" as a specific category. These are accidents caused by the pilot's mishandling of the controls.

A separate category is "Pilot Judgment". These are the cases where the pilot's faulty decision-making causes the accident.

Add the two categories together, and you get Pilot Error."

So...here's how the data came out, vs. the pilot's age.

This data shows Pilot Miscontrol increasing past age 80...but the *judgment* issues are less.

When you look at the overall Pilot Error percentages, it stays pretty flat through about age 80. Then, the increase in stick-and-rudder issues (reflexes, etc.) overcome the lower rate of judgment errors.

View attachment 154967
Looking at two aspects of Pilot Miscontrol... accidental stalls (with fully functional engines) and physical loss of control of the aircraft during takeoff and landing is also interesting. Overall, as pilots age, then tend towards more cases of losing control on takeoff or landing. But generally speaking (there is a spike in the 80-84 age group) they seem to get cagier about stalls.
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But what do I know; I'm one of those guys who only come out when accidents happen.... :-)


Ron Wanttaja
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It’d be even more interesting to normalize that on the quantity of active pilots in each age range. I don’t know if valid data exist for that, but I bet the risk rate in the higher age categories goes way higher than that.
 
FlightmechH3 said:
Tiffany has a parade float now.
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Looking at the damage to the lower cowl, it must have nosed in hard when the gear struck the water. They are lucky it did not flip. Also lucky their belts presumably prevented them from being incapacitated.

Inverted in 6 feet of water is not a good place to be.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Looking at the damage to the lower cowl, it must have nosed in hard when the gear struck the water. They are lucky it did not flip. Also lucky their belts presumably prevented them from being incapacitated.

Inverted in 6 feet of water is not a good place to be.
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DSC_0946-scaled.jpg

Things got a little compressed.
 
flyingron said:
Someone over on beechtalk was present for the recovery. The prop blade was indeed bent but no tip curling, so it would appear to not have been making power when it hit the water. Gear down, flaps up, so consistent with them just flying it into the lake on takeoff.
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Except they weren't taking off, they were landing. They took off from KLSE and were landing at KAUW. No flaps could have been an attempt to extend the glide. I wonder when the engine quit - Before or after gear was selected down?

StraightnLevel said:
From an online report re: the pilot:

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.

ATP, current Class 3 medical, handful of type ratings.
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I looked him up yesterday. All of the above info is correct. In addition, he has a Mechanic certificate and a Flight Engineer certificate, but no CFI. Old school Military -> Airline FE -> FO -> Captain progression.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No flaps could have been an attempt to extend the glide. I wonder when the engine quit - Before or after gear was selected down?
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No flaps is the standard instrument approach procedure for that vintage Bonanza, as taught by ABS instructors. Page 17 in the document linked below:


Personally, I put in about 5 seconds of flaps at FAF (no degree marker, so I go by drive motor run time) in clean air. Gusting winds or heavy crosswind, and I go 0 flaps.
 
MKERSW said:
How many more Septuagenarians will it take?

Day VFR only for anyone 70 or older.
No more than 4 seats.
Fixed Gear.
Fixed Prop.
No Basic Med.
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WTH, I know a 35 year old guy that gear upped his plane just 6 mos ago, we should ban everyone 35 and older.
ban everyone older than the two amazon pilots while you're at it. hell if no one flew, there'd be a **** ton less crashes
 
The aircraft appears a ways away from the straight in approach. Weird
 

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