A father is mourning the loss of his son following a tragic plane crash that occurred over the weekend, claiming the lives of all six passengers onboard.
On Saturday (April 12), a private aircraft crash-landed in a field in Copake, near the Massachusetts border in upstate New York, shortly after 12:00 pm ET, resulting in the death of everyone aboard.
According to Flight Aware data, the twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B was airborne for 30 minutes before the accident, having departed from its base at 11:34 am.
The plane was reported to be owned by Dr. Michael Groff, a neuroscientist, and his wife, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist. Both were among the victims of the crash.
Joining them were their son Jared Groff, a 2022 Swarthmore College graduate working as a paralegal, and his partner Alexia Couyutas Duarte, who also graduated from Swarthmore and was set to attend Harvard Law School in the fall.
Their daughter, Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player named the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year and known for creating masks for essential workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, was also on the flight with her boyfriend, James Santoro, a recent MIT graduate.
The group was reportedly headed to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration.
James’ devastated father has since spoken about the tragedy, expressing that all the families involved are ‘suffering.’
John Santoro stated: “Their suffering is over. Ours has just begun.”
In an interview with Boston 25 News, he expressed disbelief about the incident: “Still couldn’t believe it was true. I still don’t believe it’s true.”
He shared that his son, a math major from New Jersey and MIT lacrosse player, met Karenna as a freshman, and the couple had plans to get engaged this summer.
John remarked: “Karenna was a fantastic person. And after you met her parents, it became pretty clear where she got it from.”
He described them as a ‘wonderful family’ to 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.”
After graduation, the couple relocated to Manhattan, where Karenna attended New York University’s medical school and James worked as an investment associate at Silver Point.
John reflected on his son’s life, saying the family had the ‘best’ 25 years ‘of our lives’ with him, and the ‘joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime.’
NTSB investigator Todd Inman confirmed during a news conference that the pilot missed an approach at the landing airport and requested another approach.
Despite attempts by air traffic control to alert the pilot of a low altitude, the radio communications were ‘unsuccessful,’ even after trying an ‘additional three times’.
Footage shows the aircraft ‘was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent’ at around 12:06 pm.
Inman noted: “In regard to visibility, weather will be one of many different [things] we will look at.”
He added that the aircraft was ‘compressed, buckled and embedded in the terrain’.
A collective statement from the Groff, Santoro and Duarte families reads: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved family members. We will remember them as the six brilliant, dynamic, and loving people that they were.”