Karenna Groff, a former standout footballer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and recipient of the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award, tragically lost her life in a small plane crash in rural upstate New York. She was 23.
Groff was among six people killed when a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft crashed in a muddy field near Copake, roughly 30 miles short of its destination, Columbia County Airport in Hudson. The plane was piloted by her father, Dr. Michael Groff.
Also on board were her mother, Dr. Joy Saini; her brother, Jared Groff; Jared’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte; and Groff’s boyfriend, James Santoro, who was also an MIT graduate. All six were pronounced dead at the scene.
The family had departed from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, en route to a birthday celebration and family gathering.
According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot had contacted air traffic control shortly before the crash to report a missed approach and was receiving new instructions when a low altitude alert was issued. No further communication was received.
“The aircraft appeared intact prior to impact and crashed at a high rate of descent,” said NTSB investigator Todd Inman. “The wreckage was severely compressed, buckled, and embedded in the ground.”
Investigators have recovered video footage capturing the final moments of the flight. No distress signal was transmitted before the crash. The cause remains under investigation, with both mechanical failure and weather conditions still under consideration.
