See more of our coverage in your search results.
Six people, including a child, were killed in a plane crash Tuesday night after the pilot reported icing on the aircraft, officials said.
The fixed-wing Piper plane — which was flying from Kenosha to Menomonie, Wisconsin — went down at around 9:31 p.m. in the town of Dellona, the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said.
All six occupants, who were not immediately identified, were found dead at the scene.
The plane was flying at around 24,000 feet when the pilot reported icing on the aircraft and requested permission to land at a nearby airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Air traffic control officials approved the landing and remained on radio with the pilot until communications and tracking data were suddenly lost.
Police scanner audio revealed the horror that officials were met with when they arrived at the scene.
“I’ve got, uh, looks like, definitely an airplane seat of some sort with deceased in the front yard,” one officer could be heard saying, WISN 12 reported.
The plane had left the Kenosha Regional Airport just before 9 p.m., according to FlightAware.
The aircraft was in contact with a nearby air traffic control tower just before the crash near Mirror Lake State Park, officials added.
The Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB were notified and will be leading the investigation into the cause of the crash.
The NTSB said the full communications and tracking data from the air traffic control tower would be reviewed, as well as the weather conditions that caused the icing on the plane.
The agency will also probe the pilot’s flight history and the plane’s maintenance records for clues.
A preliminary report on the crash will be available within 30 days, the agency added.
