Saturday, 19 April 2025

Private Plane Crash Causes Six Fatalities, High School Student Loses Entire Immediate Family

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A private plane crash in upstate New York on Saturday caused the deaths of six people.

The tragedy killed a pair of doctors and their two eldest children.

Neuroscientist Michael Groff and urogynecologist Joy Saini died alongside their children – Karenna and Jared Groff.

Anika Groff, a high school senior, did not accompany her family on the flight.

From the New York Post:

James Santoro, Karenna’s boyfriend, and Jared’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duartem, were also killed in the crash.

Karenna Groff and James Santoro, both MIT graduates, found success in New York City studying medicine and pursuing finance, respectively. The couple was reportedly planning on getting engaged this summer.

“They were a wonderful family,” said John Santoro, James’ 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.”

Michael Groff was an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and served as executive director of neuroscience at Rochester Regional Health, on top of being an experienced pilot. He met Saini, founder of Boston Pelvic Health and Wellness, while she was training in medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, according to a family statement.

Couyutas Duartem and Jared Groff were both graduates of Swarthmore College, Michael Groff’s alma mater. They both worked as paralegals, and Jared Groff had plans to attend law school in the fall, according to a statement from Swarthmore College.

Anika Groff was accepted into Swarthmore College, according to the statement, but she announced that she would be attending the University of North Carolina before the crash.

The private plane was embarking from a White Plains airport on a trip to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration when it spiraled into a “pretty muddy” field on Saturday.

Daily Mail reports:

Officials have not said who was piloting the plane.

Shortly before the crash, the pilot radioed air traffic control at Columbia County Airport to say he had missed the initial approach and requested a new approach plan, officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said at a Sunday briefing.

While preparing the new coordinates, air traffic controllers attempted to relay a low altitude alert three times, with no response from the pilot and no distress call, officials said.

Investigators obtained video of the final seconds of the flight, which ‘appears to show that the aircraft was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent into the ground,’ NTSB official Todd Inman told reporters.

‘Still couldn’t believe it was true. I still don’t believe it’s true,’ James Santoro’s grieving father John Santoro told Boston 25 News.

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