Investigators outline final moments of upstate New York plane crash that killed former college soccer star Karenna Groff and family

Federal Investigators Detail Final Moments of Fatal Plane Crash in Upstate New York

Federal investigators are shedding light on the final moments of a tragic plane crash that took place last month in upstate New York, claiming the lives of a family from Massachusetts who were en route to the Catskills to celebrate a birthday and the Passover holiday.

The victims of the April 12 crash in Copake, New York, included Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player who was named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; her physician parents, Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini; her brother, Jared Groff, and his partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte; and Karenna Groff’s boyfriend, James Santoro.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in a preliminary report issued on Friday, stated that the private plane departed from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, around 11:30 a.m. and was heading north to Columbia County Airport in Hudson.

The pilot, Michael Groff, had departed from the Boston suburbs early that Saturday morning, picking up Karenna Groff and Santoro in White Plains before heading to the Catskills to celebrate Karenna’s 25th birthday.

However, at approximately 11:57 a.m., Michael Groff informed air traffic control that he had missed the initial approach to the runway at Columbia County Airport, as per the report.

The controller then provided new instructions for the landing, which Groff acknowledged shortly after noon.

Just a minute later, the controller alerted Groff that the plane was flying at a low altitude, but there was no response from the pilot. Despite repeated warnings, air traffic control did not receive any further radio transmissions from the plane until radar contact was lost.

The Mitsubishi MU-2B-40 crashed in snow-covered terrain approximately 10 miles south of the airport.

The preliminary report did not provide a specific cause for the crash, but it did mention that all major components of the aircraft were found within a 150-foot debris field and that there were no significant weather advisories in effect in the region at the time of the crash.

NTSB officials have suggested that overcast conditions may have impacted the pilot’s visibility and that an initial investigation did not reveal any issues with the aircraft.