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The crash happened around 12:05 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, in a muddy field in Craryville, located in the town of Copake near the Massachusetts border, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B had departed from Westchester County Airport in White Plains and was en route to Columbia County Airport when it went down about 10 miles short of its destination, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year and standout MIT soccer captain studying biological engineering; her father, neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, urogynecologist Dr. Joy Saini; and Karenna’s boyfriend, James Santoro, a varsity lacrosse player, finance major, and nonprofit leader from MIT, according to the family.
Karenna Groff, who grew up in Weston, Massachusetts, captained MIT’s women’s soccer team, co-founded openPPE to help frontline workers during the pandemic, and later moved to Manhattan to attend NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, as detail on her social media.
James Santoro, who grew up in northern New Jersey before his family moved to Florida, majored in finance (15-3) with a minor in literature and creative writing at MIT. He served as Vice President of the MIT Sloan Business Club, President of GPS and Scholars of Finance, and MIT Chapter President of First Generation Investors, a nonprofit teaching high school students in underserved communities about personal finance, according to his and the school's social media.
Outside of academics, he was known for his leadership, humor, and love of “morning dumpling” adventures in Boston with friends, according to a profile by the Sloan Business Club.
The group was flying to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and to observe Passover when the crash occurred.
NTSB spokesman J. Todd Inman said investigators obtained a video of the plane's final seconds, showing a “high rate of descent into the ground.” Investigators are expected to stay at the crash site for at least a week, with a preliminary report due within 30 days.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office will formally release the victims’ identities.
This remains a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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