FATHER AND SON DIE IN PLANE CRASH NEAR ST LOUIS

Jimmy Don Lewis, aged 48, and his son Brayden Ty Lewis, aged 22, died when their Beechcraft Baron 55 aircraft crashed into a rural field south of St Louis, Missouri, at 11pm on Thursday. The pair had flown to the city to attend a St Louis Cardinals match against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium earlier that evening. Lewis was piloting the plane from St Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto to Siloam Springs Municipal Airport when the aircraft encountered a storm. Aviation tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the plane entering a descending spiral at approximately 10.40pm, some 22 minutes into a flight expected to last roughly one hour and 40 minutes. The aircraft descended 600 feet in two seconds before contact was lost.

Kelsey Lewis, who had travelled with her father and brother earlier that day, told the Daily Mail that a fault in the plane's weather-tracking system contributed to the crash. The system displayed weather information 30 minutes behind actual conditions, she stated, leading her father to believe he could safely navigate between storm cells. Lewis described her father as cautious about flying practices. Search and rescue operations began at 2.30am on Friday after the family reported the plane missing. The aircraft was located at 7.40am in a tree line behind Columbia Quarry.

The Sheriff's Department confirmed fatalities at the scene and transitioned the operation from search and rescue to recovery. Kelsey Lewis and her mother Jill were asked to attend the police station, where they were informed of the discovery. The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet issued preliminary findings regarding the crash's cause.