Overview
- Two people died when a Beechcraft Baron 55 crashed in Monroe County, Illinois; the victims were identified as pilot Jimmy Don Lewis, 48, and his son Brayden Ty Lewis, 22.
- The pair were returning from a St. Louis Cardinals game, flying from St. Louis Regional Airport to Siloam Springs, and radar contact was lost in what officials place at about 10:48–11:00 p.m.
- Monroe County preliminary flight data shows the aircraft began a turn, then entered a descending spiral during storm conditions before radar contact was lost.
- Search teams that began looking around 2:30 a.m. were delayed by rain and low visibility and located the wreckage and the two deceased occupants the next morning at roughly 7:40–7:51 a.m.
- Family members say the plane’s weather‑tracking system was about 30 minutes off and describe Jimmy Lewis as an experienced pilot, a claim investigators have not verified as the sheriff’s office and federal authorities continue their probe; the family plans a memorial scholarship in the victims’ honor.