A tight-knit family of doctors and student-athletes tragically lost their lives in a plane crash in upstate New York this past weekend. The six family members were aboard a Mitsubishi MU2B aircraft, headed to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and Passover holiday when disaster struck.
The plane went down shortly after midday on Saturday in a field in Copake, leaving no survivors.
Went down in a muddy field
The United States has been shaken by a series of tragic aviation accidents in 2025, with the grim trend continuing. Just last week, a helicopter crash in New York City claimed six lives. The following day, three people aboard a small plane died after it crashed Friday morning near Boca Raton Airport in Florida.
Then, on Saturday morning, a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B private plane went down in a muddy field near Copake, New York, close to the Massachusetts border.
Onboard the ill-fated plane was a wealthy family of top doctors and MIT student-athletes.
The victims included Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player and NCAA’s 2022 Woman of the Year, her boyfriend, MIT graduate James Santoro, her father Dr. Michael Groff, a renowned neuroscientist, and her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist.
