Piper Plane Crashes in Wisconsin, 6 Killed Including Child

Piper Aircraft Crashes Near Mirror Lake State Park

Six people, including a child, were killed when a small plane crashed in a wooded area near Mirror Lake State Park, Wisconsin, United States, on Tuesday night (10/13/2026). The Sauk County Sheriff's Office received multiple reports of a downed aircraft at around 9:30 p.m. local time and dispatched emergency crews.

Responders found the wreckage in a densely wooded area near Park Lane, west of Herwig Road, about 10 miles west of Wisconsin Dells. All six occupants were found dead at the scene. No structures were damaged and no one on the ground was hurt.

The aircraft was identified as a Piper PA-46, a six-seat, single-engine, fixed-wing plane. According to online flight tracker FlightAware, the plane departed Kenosha Regional Airport shortly before 9:00 p.m. on a return trip to Menomonie, Wisconsin.

Pilot Reported Icing Before Contact Was Lost

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the aircraft was flying at 24,000 feet (about 7,315 meters) when the pilot reported icing on the aircraft and requested permission to descend. Air traffic control approved the request.

The aircraft then entered a right-hand descending turn that increased in rate until communications and flight-tracking data were lost, the NTSB said. The sheriff's office said investigators are working to learn the content of those transmissions and whether a weather event in the area played any role in the crash.

Weather conditions are also under examination. Rain was falling and a thunderstorm was moving through the Town of Dellona at the time of the accident, according to the Associated Press. The NTSB has not determined that icing caused the crash.

NTSB and FAA Investigate the Cause

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the NTSB are leading the investigation into the cause of the crash. Investigators will review the aircraft's communications with air traffic control, the weather conditions that caused the icing, the pilot's flight history, and the plane's maintenance records.

The sheriff's office said the identities of the victims have not been released pending family notifications. A preliminary NTSB report is expected within 30 days.