Plane Crash in Upstate New York Kills Six Family Members Traveling for Celebration

This 2024 photo provided by John Santoro shows, from left, Dr. Michael Groff, Karenna Groff, Dr. Joy Saini, and James Santoro

A tragic plane crash in upstate New York claimed the lives of six individuals from a close-knit family of physicians and high-achieving student-athletes who were traveling to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and the Passover holiday.

The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft went down shortly after noon on Saturday in a muddy field in Copake, near the New York–Massachusetts border. Authorities confirmed that all six occupants were killed in the crash.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot had radioed Columbia County Airport shortly before the crash to report a missed approach and requested a new plan. As air traffic controllers prepared new coordinates, they attempted to issue a low-altitude alert three times but received no response. No distress call was made.

MIT women's soccer graduate student Karenna Groff throws a ball prior to a baseball game at Fenway Park, Monday, April 3, 2023, in Boston

Video footage of the aircraft’s final seconds showed that it was intact upon descent and impacted the ground at a high rate of speed. The wreckage was found severely compressed and embedded in the terrain.

The victims included Karenna Groff, a former MIT All-American soccer player named the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year; her father, Dr. Michael Groff, a neurosurgeon and experienced pilot; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist; her brother, Jared Groff, a Swarthmore College graduate working as a paralegal; Jared’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, a fellow Swarthmore graduate who planned to attend Harvard Law School; and Karenna’s boyfriend, James Santoro, an MIT graduate and investment associate.

“They were a wonderful family,” said John Santoro, James Santoro’s father. “The world lost a lot of very good people who were going to do a lot of good for the world if they had the opportunity. We’re all personally devastated.”

Karenna Groff and James Santoro met during their freshman year at MIT. Groff, originally from Weston, Massachusetts, studied biomedical engineering and co-founded openPPE during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop improved protective masks for essential workers. After graduating, she began medical school at NYU while Santoro worked at Silver Point, a hedge fund based in Connecticut.

This 2023 photo provided by John Santoro shows his son, James Santoro, and Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player recently named the NCAA Woman of Year

Dr. Joy Saini, originally from India, was a leading pelvic surgeon and the founder of Boston Pelvic Health and Wellness. She met her husband, Michael Groff, at the University of Pittsburgh. Michael later became a distinguished neurosurgeon and was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash.

The group had departed from Westchester County Airport in White Plains on Saturday morning, bound for Columbia County Airport. The crash occurred approximately 10 miles south of their intended destination.

NTSB officials confirmed that the pilot was operating under instrument flight rules rather than visual rules. While weather conditions and visibility are under review, it remains too early to determine their role in the crash. The aircraft, which had been sold a year prior, had a recently upgraded cockpit with technology certified to current FAA standards.

The Mitsubishi MU-2B went down in a muddy field at 12.15pm on Saturday in Copake, New York , near the Massachusetts state line

Investigators are expected to remain at the site for about a week. A full report on the incident is anticipated within 12 to 24 months.

Funeral arrangements for the victims are currently underway. Reflecting on his son’s life, John Santoro said, “The 25 years we had with James were the best years of our lives, and the joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime.”