A father and his 22-year-old son died when their small plane crashed in a rural Illinois tree line on their way home from a St. Louis Cardinals game. The Monroe County Sheriff's Department confirmed the identities of the deceased as Jimmy Don Lewis, 48, and Brayden Ty Lewis.
The pair had departed from St. Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto late Thursday, heading to Siloam Springs Municipal Airport in Arkansas. Investigators are examining flight data that suggests the Beechcraft Baron 55 aircraft entered a developing storm and attempted a last-minute turn before entering a descending spiral. Radar contact was lost shortly after.
Emergency crews were alerted around 2:34 a.m. Friday following reports of a potential aircraft crash south of Waterloo, Illinois. Search efforts were significantly hampered for several hours due to low clouds, rain, and poor visibility. A multi-agency response, including specialized drone teams, was deployed.
An ARCH Air Medical helicopter located the wreckage in a tree line near Columbia Quarry at approximately 7:40 a.m. after investigators narrowed down the search area. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have taken over the investigation into the official cause of the crash.
Kelsey Lewis, daughter of Jimmy Don Lewis and sister of Brayden Ty Lewis, told the Daily Mail that her father and brother earned their pilot's licenses together and were very close. She described her father as an experienced and cautious pilot. She also suggested a potential issue with the aircraft's weather-tracking system may have been a contributing factor.