A high school senior faced an unexpected life change after a private plane crash in upstate New York resulted in the deaths of her entire family.
Anika Groff was not on board with her family when the twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B crashed in Copake, New York, near the Massachusetts border on Saturday, April 12.
The crash claimed the lives of Anika’s parents, neuroscientist Michael Groff and urogynecologist Joy Saini, as well as her siblings, Karenna and Jared Groff. Also on board were Karenna’s boyfriend, James Santoro, and Jared’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte.
The Weston school district in Massachusetts, where Anika is a senior, released a statement addressing the tragic loss.
According to reports, Michael Groff was an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and was the executive director of neuroscience at Rochester Regional Health. He was piloting the plane at the time of the crash. Joy Saini, his wife, founded Boston Pelvic Health and Wellness and met him during medical training at the University of Pittsburgh.
Their daughter Karenna had previously played soccer at MIT and was nationally recognized as the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year. She was studying medicine at NYU and co-founded openPPE during the COVID-19 pandemic to innovate mask designs for essential workers.
Her boyfriend, James Santoro, was also an MIT graduate working in the finance sector. His father, John Santoro, mentioned that the couple had plans to get engaged during the summer. “They were a wonderful family,” he stated. “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.”
Jared Groff and Alexia Couyutas Duarte, both Swarthmore College alumni, were working as paralegals. Jared had plans to attend law school in the fall, according to a Swarthmore College statement.
Prior to the crash, Anika Groff had been accepted to Swarthmore College but announced her decision to enroll at the University of North Carolina, as noted by family statements.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has initiated an investigation into the crash’s cause. Officials reported that the private plane departed from White Plains, New York, heading to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration before it crashed into a “pretty muddy” field on Saturday.
An NTSB member indicated on Monday that the plane had been in the air for less than an hour without reported issues before the crash. Michael Groff contacted air traffic control to request a reroute after missing the initial approach to Columbia County Airport.
Air traffic controllers later issued a low altitude warning and attempted to communicate, receiving no response from the pilot. Officials clarified that no distress call was made.
Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore confirmed the fatal accident shortly after it happened. “It’s in the middle of a field and it’s pretty muddy, so accessibility is difficult,” Salvatore stated at a news conference near the scene, about 50 miles south of Albany, New York.
The NTSB investigation is expected to require 12 to 24 months for a complete report on the probable cause and contributing factors. Initial findings suggest the plane was intact before a high-speed descent into the field.
Investigators are considering whether adverse weather conditions, such as freezing temperatures and wind, contributed to the crash, which occurred approximately 10 miles from Columbia County Airport, its intended destination.
Several academic institutions associated with the family have extended their condolences. MIT, where Karenna was a notable student-athlete, and Swarthmore College, where several family members studied, issued statements mourning the loss.
Rochester Regional Health, where Michael Groff had recently started as executive medical director of neurosciences after his tenure at Harvard, remembered him as a respected neurosurgeon who would be greatly missed by colleagues and patients.
The families of the victims released a joint statement describing them as “brilliant, dynamic, and loving people” whose contributions to their fields and communities were noteworthy and whose potential for future impact was immeasurable.
