The Weston High School community is in mourning following the tragic death of six individuals in a plane crash in upstate New York, including members of a family from Weston, Massachusetts. In an expression of profound sorrow, Weston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Karen Zalenski and Principal Sue Bairstow jointly issued a letter describing the devastating news. "Two of our graduates, Karenna Groff (2018) and Jarad Groff (2017), their parents, and several friends were killed in a small plane crash in New York yesterday," the letter read, NBC Boston reported. Additionally, a current student at the high school, also grieving, is a family member who was spared from the crash due to not being on the plane.
The plane, a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B, was en route to a Passover celebration from Westchester County Airport aiming - tragically - only to reach the Columbia County Airport. Among the passengers were Karenna Groff, a distinguished alumnus of MIT's soccer program and the NCAA woman of the year in 2022, and her family. Her parents, Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini, brother Jared Groff, his partner Alexia Couyutas Duarte, and Karenna's boyfriend James Santoro were all casualties of the accident that occurred shortly after noon on Saturday, CBS News stated.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has garnered a video indicating that the aircraft was intact before it descended precipitously. Although air traffic control relayed several attempted contacts and a low altitude alert to the pilot, there was no distress call returned. Copake's muddy terrain posed a challenge to the first responders reaching the crash site, where fortunately, no structures were struck in the descent, unveiled by Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore.
The Groff-Saini family's statement detailed the accomplishments and aspirations of those lost. Dr. Michael Groff was not just a neurosurgeon but also a seasoned pilot carrying on a legacy of flight since the age of sixteen. His wife Dr. Joy Saini, a prominent pelvic surgeon, spearheading Boston Pelvic Health and Wellness. Their children's significant others were on the brink of bright futures, with Duarte admitted into Harvard Law School, and Santoro, planning a summer proposal to Karenna, had MIT merits under his belt alongside his budding career as an Investment Associate. The lives of the six, extinguished in the Copake crash, leave behind a community grappling with a void of profound depth, as the families encapsulated in their grief: "We will remember them as the six brilliant, dynamic, and loving people that they were," as per CBS News.
