Wisconsin: Light plane crash kills five adults, one child after pilot reported ice on wings

Six people including a child are dead after a horror plane crash in the US.

Emergency services in Wisconsin were contacted around 9.30pm on Tuesday night local time with multiple reports of a downed aircraft in woodlands in the town of Dellona.

The light plane was travelling from Kenosha to Menomonie and crashed near Mirror Lake State Park.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Department said all six occupants — five adults and one child — onboard were found dead at the scene.

Before the Piper PA-46 went down, the pilot of the six-seat, single engine plane reported that ice was building up on the wings as he flew through a thunderstorm.

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 7315m and requested permission to descend.

Ice build-up 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.

“It has all the earmarks of an icing-related loss of control,” said aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Local outlet WISN reported that the plane was flying at 24,000 feet when he reported the icing.

The NTSB will lead an investigation into the crash, which happened about 16km west of popular tourist destination Wisconsin Dells.

A preliminary report is expected within 30 days while the full report could take two years.