Wisconsin plane crash: Investigation into flight Pilot's communication with air traffic controller reveals reason what led to death of 6 people

Wisconsin plane crash has killed six people and now authorities were trying to ascertain reasons behind ill-fated accident. The National Transportation Safety Board has said in a statement that the pilot reported that ice was building up on the wings as he flew through a thunderstorm.

The local police Department said it received multiple reports of a downed aircraft. No structures were damaged, and no one on the ground was injured, authorities said. The detailed probe into the matter is being carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Wisconsin Plane Crash - What Happened?


The six-seat, single-engine plane was traveling from Kenosha to Menomonie when it crashed shortly before 10 p.m. on Tuesday in a wooded area near Mirror Lake State Park, not far from the popular tourist destination of Wisconsin Dells, the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department said. Rain was falling as a thunderstorm moved through the Town of Dellona.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot told an air traffic controller about icing on the wings of the Piper PA-46 Malibu as it flew at 24,000 feet and requested permission to descend. Ice buildup on the wings is a major aviation hazard because even a thin layer of ice can make it difficult for a plane to remain airborne.

Air traffic control approved the descent, and the plane began a right descending turn that increased in rate until communications and data tracking were lost, the NTSB said.

Wisconsin Plane Crash Investigation

Data from FlightRadar24 shows the plane descending sharply at a rate of up to 4,000 feet per minute as its airspeed nearly doubled to 340 mph.

The NTSB conducted a special safety review of seven icing-related crashes involving the Malibu and Mirage models of Piper planes between 1989 and 1991. Several of those crashes involved relatively inexperienced pilots who were unfamiliar with how to handle a sophisticated plane like these in icing conditions.

The NTSB recommended several changes to pilot training and the planes’ checklists and manuals, along with adding an indicator light for the systems that heat pitot tubes. The heating systems prevent ice buildup in the tubes, helping ensure pilots receive accurate airspeed data.