Plane crashes with 3 passengers, 53 rescue dogs in Waukesha County golf course
WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN: On Tuesday, November 15, three passengers and 53 dogs had a miraculous escape after a plane carrying them belly-landed on the back green of a Western Lakes Golf Course in Pewaukee, Waukesha County, 17 miles west of Milwaukee. According to the Waukesha Sheriff's Department and HAWS, the twin-engine plane carrying adoptable pets for the Humane Animal Welfare crashed into the third hole of I-94 around 9.4 am.
The plane slid several hundred feet, destroying trees along the way, before coming to rest, causing significant damage to the plane, while some of the dogs and passengers received non-life threatening injuries and were being treated at the hospital. According to HAWS (Humane Animal Welfare Society), the plane was part of a planned transport of at-risk adoptable dogs from southern shelters in New Orleans to Louisiana to HAWS and several other partner shelters.
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“This was a relatively catastrophic landing where they went through trees,” Matthew Haerter, assistant chief at Lake Country Fire and Rescue, told WISTV. “The wings actually came off of the aircraft, and then they came to rest several hundred feet after where they originally tried to place the aircraft.” Moreover, about 300 gallons of fuel were spilled in the crash, according to Lake Country Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Matthew Haerter. More than 50 rescue dogs on board have been taken in by a humane society in the area.
The cause of the crash is unknown at this time, as the incident is still being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.The dogs are being monitored by staff veterinarians, but HAWS believes that, barring any unexpected complications, they will be available for adoption as soon as possible, WGN9 reported.
More reports said that HAWS has set up a website to help pay for the animals' medical bills, as well as a wish list of supplies required to care for and transport of the dogs. It is still unclear at this time what may have caused the crash, as the incident remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration.