Grandmother, daughters and grandson among 6 victims who died in a
Wisconsin plane crash
[October 16, 2026]
By JOSH FUNK and JAIMIE DING
A grandmother, two adult daughters and her grandson were among the six
people killed when a small plane crashed in Wisconsin after flying in a
thunderstorm, family members said Thursday.
Mary Brion, 67, along with her daughters Kayla Turpin, 39, and Amanda
Haremza, 45; and grandson Rylan Haremza, 13, were heading home Tuesday
night after surprising her granddaughters at their high school
volleyball game.
“My daughters grew up playing (volleyball), and my wife just loved to go
watch the grandchildren,” said Brion's husband, David Brion. “It wasn’t
right what happened.”
David Brion said he and his wife used to go to every match that his
daughters competed in. Since their granddaughters lived five hours away
by car in Salem, they couldn't watch them play very often. They had the
opportunity to go this time by plane through one of their son-in-law's
pilot friends, Brion said.
“We never had much money, she just wanted to find her joy,” said Brion,
of Nelson, Wisconsin. “This trip they were really excited about."
His grandson Rylan Haremza was a “wonderful little kid” who loved
hunting, fishing, football and wrestling, Brion said.
The other two victims were Tyler Harvey, 36, of Cadott; and Ron Riek, of
Woodville, the experienced pilot and businessperson who owned the plane.
The victims, all of whom lived in Wisconsin, were identified Thursday by
the Sauk County Sheriff’s office.
Pilot was well known in local aviation community
Menomonie Airport Commission Chairman Daniel Johnson paid tribute to
Riek, whom he had known for decades, at a public meeting Wednesday
night.
“He was simply a good man. A highly experienced pilot, and this was
simply a tragedy,” Johnson said about the friend he had known for
decades, according to Minneapolis TV station KSTP.
Riek carried an airline transport pilot rating on his license, according
to Federal Aviation Administration records, which indicates that he had
at least 1,500 hours of flying experience and the skills needed to be an
airline captain.
Johnson told The Associated Press that Riek had a lot of experience
relying on instruments when flying.
“He was an enthusiastic and engaging participant in airport activities,
a popular and important member of our small aviation community, and a
very active pilot,” Johnson said. Riek built the successful Woodville
Warehousing and Distributing logistics company after several years as a
trucker. His profile on the company website talks about his love of
flying and how he used his plane to visit his customers.
Harvey was a certified flight instructor who worked for Gibson Aviation
Services, Johnson said, adding that Riek likely just invited him to ride
along on the flight.
Aircraft affected by icing on wings
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation
and said its investigators found most of the wreckage Wednesday and
documented the cabin, cockpit, engines and propellers at the main crash
site. With help from volunteers, they plan to search Friday for
additional pieces of the plane that may have been scattered through the
woods.
[to top of second column]
|
This image taken from WKOW video shows first responders at the scene
of a fatal plane crash Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in a wooded area near
Mirror Lake State Park in the Town of Dellona, Wis. (WKOW via AP)
Its experts will certainly examine the history of icing-related
crashes involving Piper PA-46 Malibu planes like the one Riek owned,
which was registered at his home address. The agency 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.
David Brion said his wife had called before they took off to tell
him that there was a storm, and they might have to go around it.
“I don’t know if they did or not,” he said.
Crash happened near major tourist destination
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.
Shortly after the crash, a controller can be heard warning a
different plane headed into the area that there is a “heavy and
extreme cell” near the Dells area as he directed that pilot to
descend to 14,000 feet.
“Some severe icing came out of nowhere from an aircraft. If you pick
any of that up, let me know,” the controller said in a recording
posted by www.LiveATC.net.
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.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
