CHILLING footage of the site where a private plane crashed and killed a family of top doctors has been revealed.
Authorities released a distressing video showing the devastated airplane debris scattered in a muddy field in Copake, New York, a mere 10 miles away from its intended airport destination.
Tragically, the passengers onboard, which included the parents, two children, and their significant others, lost their lives when the aircraft crashed as they were en route to the Catskills to commemorate a birthday and Passover festivities over the weekend.
Dr. Michael Groff, a neuroscientist who owned and piloted the Mitsubishi MU-2B plane, was on board with his wife, urogynecologist Dr. Joy Saini.
Karena Groff, a distinguished individual who earned the title of NCAA 2022 Woman of the Year during her time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tragically perished alongside her relatives and her partner, James Santoro, who also graduated from MIT.
Her brother, Jared Groff, worked as a paralegal and was on the flight with his partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, who planned to attend Harvard Law School this fall.
NEW DETAILS EMERGE
The cause of the crash is unclear, but the National Transportation Safety Board shed more light on the details of the crash.
NTSB said at a briefing on Monday that the doomed flight was the plane’s second takeoff of the day after leaving Norwood Memorial Airport in Massachusetts at around 9:30 am.
The aircraft arrived at Westchester County Airport in White Plains at 10:19 am and left there at around 11:30 am.
On its way to Columbia County Airport in Copake, the flight suddenly disappeared from air traffic control screens.
When ATC found the plane, it had crashed in an open field so muddy that first responders had difficulty reaching the plane.
NTSB Member Todd Inman said the weather was “deteriorating” and that investigators are still looking into whether the weather impacted the crash.
Footage from the haunting site showed investigators looking through debris from the crash, including engine pieces and mangled metal from the aircraft.
Moments before the tragedy, the pilot had radioed air traffic control at Columbia County Airport and requested a new approach plan because he missed the initial approach, NTSB said.
ATC sent him a low-altitude alert three times, but there was no response and no distress call.
Video from the flight’s final seconds showed the aircraft was intact before it crashed, Inman said.
Weston Public Schools’ statement
The school district in Weston, Massachussetts, where Jared and Karenna Groff attended has released a statement about the tragedy.
“Two of our graduates, Karenna Groff (2018) and Jared Groff (2017), their parents, and several friends were killed in a small plane crash in New York yesterday,” Weston Public Schools superintendent Dr. Karen Zalenski and Weston High School principal Sue Bairstow said on Sunday.
“Their lives ended far too soon, and our hearts are with all those who are grieving this unimaginable and sudden loss.
“Out of respect for the family and especially for our student who is grieving the loss of her loved ones, we ask that all members of our community honor their privacy during this deeply personal time.
“Our role as a school community is to surround them with quiet care, compassion, and space to heal.”
Source: WFXT
The plane didn’t hit any structures as it dropped to the ground.
Officials have not confirmed who was piloting the plane at the time of the crash, but said that the additional training required to fly the aircraft was completed in October 2024.
The crash leaves behind Michael and Joy’s youngest daughter, a high school senior named Anika.
It’s unclear why Anika, who had just announced she’ll be attending the University of North Carolina in the fall, wasn’t on the trip.
The school district where the Groff children went to school in Weston, Massachusetts, released a statement on Sunday about the tragedy.
“Out of respect for the family and especially for our student who is grieving the loss of her loved ones, we ask that all members of our community honor their privacy during this deeply personal time,” Weston Public Schools officials said.
‘THE WORLD LOST GOOD PEOPLE’
John Santoro, James’s devastated dad, told Fox affiliate WFXT that Karenna and James had planned to get engaged this summer.
“Still couldn’t believe it was true. I still don’t believe it’s true,” he told the outlet of the tragedy,
James graduated from MIT with a math degree and had just moved to Manhattan with Karenna, who had enrolled in medical school at New York University.
Karenna was a soccer player who studied biomedical engineering at MIT.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she designed masks for essential workers.
“Karenna was a fantastic person, and after you met her parents, it became pretty clear where she got it from,” John said.
He told the Associated Press, “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.”
