Verona man injured in Richland County plane crash

A Verona man was hurt Monday when the small plane he was test flying went down in a swamp in rural Richland County, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office said. Pilot Peter Aarsvold was taking a single-engine plane owned by Richland Center resident Arthur Simpson on its first-ever flight when something went wrong shortly after 1 p.m. Aarsvold called Simpson to let him know the plane was going down. It then crashed into a swampy marsh behind a home in the Sextonville area. Rescue crews had to push through nearly 700 feet of thick swamp and marsh to reach him, tracking his location using the GPS signal from his cell phone. When crews finally reached Aarsvold, they pulled him from the wreckage and carried him out of the marsh to a spot where a Wisconsin DNR airboat could pick him up. He was conscious and alert while being airlifted to the hospital for treatment. Several responders were taken to Richland Hospital by Richland County EMS to be checked out for dehydration and heat exhaustion after the operation wrapped up. The Richland County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Federal Aviation Administration are now investigating what caused the crash.