6 dead, including a child, in small plane crash near Wisconsin Dells

Dellona: Six people, including one child, were killed in a plane crash near Wisconsin Dells, the Sauk County Sheriff's Department said.

The six-seat, single-engine plane was travelling from Kenosha to Menomonie when it crashed in a wooded area near Mirror Lake State Park in the Town of Dellona shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday night, authorities said.

Rain was falling as a thunderstorm moved through the area.


The sheriff's department said it received multiple reports of a downed aircraft around 9:30 p.m. Five adults and one child who were travelling in the plane were found dead, the sheriff's department said.

Police said the fixed-wing Piper PA-46 airplane was in contact with a nearby air traffic control tower before the crash. Investigators were reviewing those transmissions and whether weather played a role in the crash, the sheriff's department and the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Police said there wasn't any damage to structures or anyone on the ground. The names of those killed were not immediately released.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.