Daily News C2 · Proficient 4 practice tests

Wisconsin congressman describes swimming to safety after small plane makes emergency landing in Lake Wausau

2 min read 354 words Published Sep 14, 2026

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Intro

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a candidate for Wisconsin governor, has described surviving a late-night emergency landing in Lake Wausau after the small plane he was riding in began to sink.

Vocabulary

Word	Part of speech	Meaning	Example
consequential adjective	adjective	Meaning: Having significant effects or implications, especially beyond its apparent scale.	Example: Her seemingly minor concession proved consequential during the negotiations.
immediate adjective	adjective	Meaning: Existing or requiring attention without delay; directly pressing.	Example: The committee addressed the immediate risk before considering longer-term reforms.
gradually adverb	adverb	Meaning: By degrees, through a slow and progressive change rather than suddenly.	Example: The institution gradually abandoned its resistance to procedural reform.
approximately adverb	adverb	Meaning: Roughly or nearly, indicating an estimate rather than an exact measurement.	Example: The revised procedure takes approximately three weeks to implement.
establish verb	verb	Meaning: To demonstrate or determine something convincingly through reliable evidence.	Example: The inquiry could not establish whether the discrepancy resulted from negligence.
contrasting adjective	adjective	Meaning: Markedly different in character, appearance, or emotional quality.	Example: The report presents contrasting interpretations of the policy’s consequences.
decisive adjective	adjective	Meaning: Having the power to determine an outcome or settle an uncertain situation.	Example: The decisive evidence emerged only after investigators reviewed the correspondence.
unanswered adjective	adjective	Meaning: Not resolved, explained, or given a satisfactory response.	Example: Several unanswered questions continued to undermine confidence in the findings.

The story

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U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a candidate for Wisconsin governor, has described surviving a late-night emergency landing in Lake Wausau after the small plane he was riding in came down on the water. The aircraft did not remain safely afloat. As it began to sink, Tiffany and the pilot had to leave it and find a route through the lake toward shallow water.

The two men initially stayed on top of the plane while it was still floating. From that position, they called 911, according to accounts of Tiffany’s description. The call allowed them to report the emergency, but it did not remove the immediate danger. The aircraft was gradually going under, and remaining on it was becoming impossible.

Tiffany said he and the pilot then swam approximately 100 to 150 feet. They continued until they reached water shallow enough to stand in. That distance may appear modest in ordinary circumstances, but the setting made it consequential: the men were moving through a lake after an aircraft had made an emergency landing and begun to disappear beneath them.

The supplied accounts do not establish what caused the landing or provide further details about the pilot’s condition. They do, however, describe the central sequence clearly. The plane came down in Lake Wausau, Tiffany and the pilot called for help from its upper surface, and both eventually moved through the water to a shallower area.

When Tiffany later spoke about what had happened, he showed both relief and strong emotion. He wiped away tears and laughed as he explained how thankful he was to have survived. The contrasting reactions suggest the difficulty of putting a frightening experience into words: laughter offered a release, while tears reflected the seriousness of the danger.

The episode has attracted attention because it combines a public figure’s ordinary travel with an unexpected test of survival. Tiffany’s account focuses on a small number of decisive actions—staying on the aircraft long enough to call 911, leaving it as it sank, and swimming until standing became possible. Those details give the incident its shape without resolving the unanswered questions surrounding the emergency landing.

Warm-up questions

What practical decisions might matter most during an unexpected water emergency?
How might laughter and tears coexist when someone recounts a frightening event?

Comprehension questions

Why did Tiffany and the pilot leave the aircraft?
What did the men do while the plane was still floating?
How far did Tiffany and the pilot swim?
What information do the supplied accounts not establish?
Why did the episode attract attention?

Opinion questions

Was calling 911 before leaving the aircraft the most rational decision? Explain your view.
Does Tiffany’s emotional account make the incident more compelling or less authoritative?

Further discussion

What ethical limits should govern media attention to a public figure’s traumatic experience?
How should journalists distinguish clearly established facts from unresolved explanations in emergency reporting?