Former NCAA Woman of the Year Karenna Groff Among Seven Killed in New York Plane Crash

After a disastrous plane crash Saturday, NFL and education experts learn their 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Karenna Groff died along with six other passengers. A Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft landed hard in soil several miles from both Copake, New York and the Massachusetts border. 

Following an unsuccessful attempt to find the Columbia County Airport the pilot contacted National Transportation Safety Board officials to reorganize their landing plan. Despite contacting the aircraft three times about its low altitude status the controller received no response back.

The Massachusetts native Groff earned high marks through both sports and other interests in life. When COVID-19 struck, she formed to produce unique mask designs for people who needed them most. She followed her MIT graduation with medical school at New York University. The private aircraft owned by Michael Groff took off from Westchester County Airport in White Plains at breakfast time on Saturday. 

NTSB official Todd Inman found video evidence of the aircraft remaining unharmed before its strong downward plunge. The team working on-site will stay there for one week while final results take between one year and two years to prepare.

Among those who lost their lives in the crash were:

• Karenna Groff, an MIT All-American soccer player and biomedical engineering graduate
• Dr. Michael Groff, her father and a neuroscientist
• Dr. Joy Saini, her mother and a urogynecologist
• Jared Groff, her brother and Swarthmore College graduate
• Alexia Couyutas Duarte, Jared’s partner who was set to attend Harvard Law School
• James Santoro, Karenna’s boyfriend and MIT graduate