A tragic helicopter crash in Montana is now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The accident resulted in multiple fatalities, including members of Illinois gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey\u2019s immediate family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The devastating news reached Darren Bailey and his wife, Cindy, on the evening of October 22. The crash claimed the lives of their son, Zachary, his wife, Kelsey, and their two children, 12-year-old Vada Rose and 7-year-old Samuel. The couple\u2019s 10-year-old son, Finn, survived as he was not on the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A statement from the Bailey family and their campaign expressed profound grief. It noted that Darren and Cindy are \u201cheartbroken by this unimaginable loss\u201d and are relying on their faith, family, and the prayers of supporters during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The family has requested privacy as they mourn this immense tragedy. They also expressed deep appreciation for the outpouring of kindness and support they have received from the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zachary Bailey and his family were integral to operating the family\u2019s fourth-generation farm in Xenia, Illinois. They were traveling in Montana for a farming convention. Due to limited space on their four-seater helicopter, Finn had traveled separately, a decision that saved his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NTSB confirmed the aircraft involved was a Robinson R66, which crashed near Ekalaka, Montana. First responders were dispatched to the scene around 7:22 p.m. According to campaign running mate Aaron Del Mar, Zachary was piloting the helicopter at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Del Mar shared a heartfelt tribute, stating he was \u201csaddened beyond words.\u201d He described the event as \u201csoul-crushing\u201d and expressed his profound sorrow for the Bailey family, their campaign, and all those touched by the family in Illinois. The cause of the crash remains unknown as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A tragic helicopter crash in Montana is now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The accident resulted in multiple fatalities, including members of Illinois gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey\u2019s immediate family. The devastating news reached Darren Bailey and his wife, Cindy, on the evening of October 22. The crash claimed the lives of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4745,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743\/revisions\/4745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}