US. Senator Tim Sheehy was aboard a small plane that made an emergency landing in a rural Madison County field Friday after suffering a mechanical engine failure, according to his office. Neither of the two people on board was injured.
The plane came down near Ennis, Mont., during what Mr. Sheehy’s chief of staff described as a routine flight training exercise. No further details about the nature of the mechanical failure or the type of aircraft involved were immediately available.
Mr. Sheehy holds FAA certifications as both a commercial pilot and flight instructor — credentials that reflect a longtime connection to aviation that predates his entry into politics. Before winning Montana’s U.S. Senate seat in 2024, Mr. Sheehy founded Bridger Aerospace Group, a Bozeman-based aerial firefighting company that deploys large air tankers to combat wildfires across the American West. The company, which went public in 2023, built its business around the growing federal and state demand for aviation-based fire suppression as wildfire seasons have intensified across the region.