did a safety study on seven Piper crashes between 1989 and 1991.

Johnson said  the aircraft has a reputation of not doing well in thunderstorms. 

This latest crash is hitting the aviation community around Menomonie hard because just last year four people died in a different plane crash. Riek helped organize a fundraiser afterward to raise money for the three young children of one couple that died.

 This is two fatal crashes in 18 months. We've lost a lot of friends,  Johnson said.  This creates a hole in the aviation community. 

The pilot in this week's crash told an air traffic controller about icing on the wings of the Piper PA-46 Malibu as it flew at 24,000 feet (7,315 meters) and requested permission to descend, according to the NTSB. That 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 sharply in rate until communications and data tracking were lost shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday. The six-seat, single-engine plane was traveling from Kenosha to Menomonie when it crashed in a wooded area near Mirror Lake State Park, not far from the popular tourist destination of Wisconsin Dells. No one on the ground was hurt.

The Wisconsin Dells sells itself as the  Waterpark Capital of the World  because of its high concentration of waterparks. The area drew more than 5 million visitors in 2025, according to state tourism officials.

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