A single-engine plane made an emergency landing inside the Kettle Moraine State Forest near Whitewater Saturday night.
The Whitewater Fire Department says they were dispatched around 9:19 p.m. on May 15, 2021, for a possible plane crash in the area of the forest around Hi-Lo Road southeast of the city.
Milwaukee Air Traffic Control was the first to contacted Walworth County officials after losing contact with the plane on their radar system. Thanks to a 911 call by the pilot of the plane to the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department, the plane was found near the Ice Age Trail off of County Highway P, approximately 75 yards off the ground in the forest canopy.
An initial investigation determined the plane was flying from Sheboygan to Burlington when it lost power and deployed an emergency parachute. The three people inside the plane were not injured.
It took crews approximately five hours to use rope systems to get the three people out of the plane safely and reunited with their families.
Assisting the Whitewater Fire Department at the scene included units from Janesville, Beloit, Elkhorn, and LaGrange. Also assisting were Madison’s Heavy Urban Rescue Team and Dudek Tree Service.
The FAA is investigating the accident. Plans to remove the plane are ongoing.
