Harrowing new crash pictures show total devastation after familys plane fell from sky

Harrowing new photos show the total devastation left after a prominent Massachusetts familys plane crashed in upstate New York, killing all six on board.

Neuroscientist Michael Groff and urogynecologist Joy Saini, their two eldest children Karenna and Jared Groff, Karennas boyfriend James Santoro and Jareds partner Alexia Couyutas Duarte all died when their plane crashed on Saturday afternoon.

Michael, 55, was piloting the Mitsubishi MU2 twin-engine small aircraft when it crash landed in a muddy agricultural field in Copake, new the Massachusetts border.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the aircraft crashed with such force that it became compressed, buckled, and embedded in the soil.

The family of doctors and student athletes was traveling to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration. They took off on Michael Groffs plane from an airport in White Plains, New York. 

The Groffs youngest daughter, high school senior Anika, was not on the plane and is the familys only survivor. 

On Monday, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board said authorities are still inspecting the exact cause of the wreck, but believe weather conditions were a factor.

NTBS official Todd Inman said at a news briefing on Monday that weather conditions at the time of the crash were what we consider to be deteriorating.

NTSB investigators seen at the scene of the crash in Copake, New York, as the aviation body said it believes weather played a role in bringing down the familys plane

The plane crash victims were identified as Karenna Groff (middle left), a former MIT soccer player, her boyfriend and MIT graduate James Santoro (right), Karennas father and neuroscientist Dr. Michael Groff (left), as well as her mother and urogynecologist Dr. Joy Saini (middle right)

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the aircraft crashed with such force that it became compressed, buckled, and embedded in the soil.

He said freezing winter weather was blowing in, including wind from 10 degrees at eight knots, a temperature of 37 degrees, with a dew point of 36 degrees Fahrenheit.

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 Santoros grieving father John Santoro told Boston 25 News.

James was a math major from New Jersey and played lacrosse for MIT, where Kareena played soccer.

After graduating, the pair moved into Manhattan where Karenna enrolled in New York Universitys medical school and James worked as an investment associate for Silver Point.

Karennas brother Jared Groff was also killed, as was Jareds partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte

Authorities are still inspecting the exact cause of the wreck, but believe weather conditions were a factor

They were a wonderful family, John Santoro told AP. 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.

The 25 years we had with James were the best years of our lives, he added, and the joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Karenna Groff co-founded openPPE, helping to create a new design of masks for essential workers. In 2023, she received the prestigious NCAA woman of the year award for the previous year for her on- and off-field accomplishments.

Karennas mother, India-born Saini, was an accomplished pelvic surgeon and the founder of Boston Pelvic Health and Wellness, according to a family statement. She trained in medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, where she met Michael Groff, who became a distinguished neurosurgeon and experienced pilot, the statement said.