Wisconsin lawmaker Tom Tiffany recalled the terrifying moment the pilot of his four-seat plane suddenly warned they were going down, leaving him just seconds to brace before the aircraft slammed into a lake.

The Republican congressman and gubernatorial nominee said he was preparing to land in Wausau, Wisconsin on Saturday night when the pilot turned to him and told him to tighten his seat belt.

'As we were making that final turn before we were going to approach for landing, the pilot turned to me and said, "Tom, we are going down, pull your seat belt as tight as possible,"' Tiffany told Fox News on Monday night.

'And it was like staring into the abyss. And you don't know how far down it is.'

Tiffany said he yanked his seat belt tight before the aircraft crashed into Lake Wausau.

'I pulled that seat belt as tight as I could and it was just a couple seconds later, we hit the water and we hit it hard,' he said.

Miraculously, the aircraft remained intact and afloat following the impact.

'The plane stayed upright, thankfully as a result of the skilled work of the pilot, and we looked at each other and said, "Are you okay?"' Tiffany recalled.

With the damaged aircraft sitting in the lake and beginning to sink, Tiffany knew they had little time to escape in the darkness.

'When we were both okay I just said to him, "Get this door open," because, you know, the door was right there on my side in the copilot's seat,' he explained.

The pair managed to force their way out before swimming away from the stricken aircraft and toward the shoreline.

'We got the door open, got out and the rest from there, we were able to be saved by the local law enforcement as well as the first responders,' Tiffany said.

'I can't thank them enough for what they did, but it's by the grace of God that we are here today.'

Tiffany said the entire sequence unfolded so rapidly that he has struggled to recall the individual moments.

'It happened really quickly,' he said. 'And we were out of that plane I think really quickly. And, you know, you just try to piece it back together but it just happened so quickly.'

The congressman escaped with a gash above his eye that required 12 stitches, while the pilot needed four stitches.

‘Each of us had very minor injuries. Once again thanks to the grace of God,’ Tiffany said. 'This is the only injury I have.’

The dramatic account came two days after Tiffany first revealed he had survived the crash while returning home from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner.

He said the four-seat Bonanza lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport, forcing the pilot to attempt an emergency landing on the lake.

‘While returning home from the La Crosse County Lincoln Day Dinner tonight, the plane I was traveling in lost power as we approached the Wausau Downtown Airport,’ Tiffany wrote on Facebook after the ordeal.

'The pilot made an emergency water landing in Lake Wausau. After landing, we called 911,’ Tiffany wrote. ‘As the plane began to submerge, we exited the aircraft and swam to a shallow area, where we waited until emergency responders reached us by boat.’ 

The Marathon County Sheriff's Office and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene.

Tiffany and the pilot were taken from the water and transported to Aspirus Wausau Hospital for treatment.

The congressman later thanked those involved in the dramatic rescue, saying first responders ‘got us safely off the water and transported us to Aspirus Wausau Hospital, where we received excellent care.’

Exactly what caused the aircraft to lose power remains under investigation.

Tiffany, a Republican, has represented Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District since 2020, winning the seat previously held by Sean Duffy, who resigned from Congress in 2019 and now serves as President Donald Trump's Transportation Secretary.

Tiffany is now the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor and is set to face Democrat David Crowley in November.

A Marquette Law School poll published at the end of August showed the two tied at 44 percent of support each among respondents who were registered voters. 12 percent of registered voter respondents to the poll were undecided.

Wisconsin's 7th congressional district has been represented by Republicans for the last 15 years.