A wealthy family of top doctors and MIT athletes, including the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year, has been wiped out in a devastating plane crash 💔

A devastating plane crash in Copake, New York, claimed the lives of six family members, including respected doctors and promising MIT student-athletes. The Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft went down Saturday afternoon while en route to a birthday and Passover celebration. There were no survivors.

Among the victims were Karenna Groff, an MIT soccer star and 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year, her boyfriend James Santoro, also an MIT graduate, and her parents, Dr. Michael Groff, a top neurosurgeon, and Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist.

NCAA woman of the year included in those killed in upstate New York plane crash https://t.co/e58sYzfmw9 pic.twitter.com/qPhWOBV8ag

— The Independent (@Independent) April 14, 2025

The pilot, who was experienced and certified, had contacted air traffic control after a missed approach but stopped responding moments before the crash. Investigators are reviewing video showing the plane intact before it plummeted steeply into a muddy field.

The accident is part of a troubling trend of recent aviation tragedies across the U.S. The loss has deeply shaken families and communities. “They were a wonderful family,” said James’s father. “The world lost a lot of very good people.”