Karenna Groff, a former standout soccer player at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the recipient of the prestigious 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award, tragically lost her life on Saturday in a devastating plane crash in upstate New York. The incident also claimed the lives of six other individuals, including several members of her family.

The twin-engine aircraft, a Mitsubishi MU-2B, crashed shortly after noon in a muddy agricultural field located in Copake, New York, just near the Massachusetts border. According to local authorities and a family member who spoke to the Associated Press (AP), all seven passengers onboard were killed in the accident.

Before the crash occurred, the pilot had contacted air traffic control at Columbia County Airport to report that he had missed the initial approach to land. He requested a new approach plan, which was being prepared when air traffic controllers attempted to alert the pilot about a low altitude three times. Unfortunately, there was no response from the pilot, nor any distress call indicating trouble.

Authorities revealed that investigators have obtained video footage capturing the final moments of the flight. According to Todd Inman, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the video appears to show that the aircraft was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent into the ground. This revelation raises various questions about the circumstances leading up to the crash and what may have gone wrong during the flight.

Among the victims were Groff, her father, Dr. Michael Groff, a prominent neuroscientist; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist; her brother, Jared Groff, who graduated from Swarthmore College in 2022 and worked as a paralegal; and Jared's partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, who also graduated from Swarthmore and had plans to attend Harvard Law School this fall. Additionally, Karenna's boyfriend, James Santoro, a recent graduate of MIT, was on board.

According to John Santoro, the father of James, his son first met Karenna Groff during their freshman year at MIT. Groff, a native of Weston, Massachusetts, was not only an All-American soccer player but also a diligent student studying biomedical engineering. Santoro, hailing from New Jersey, was a math major and played lacrosse for MIT.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Groff demonstrated her leadership and innovative spirit by co-founding openPPE, an initiative aimed at creating new mask designs for essential workers. In 2023, she was honored with the NCAA Woman of the Year award for her exceptional accomplishments both on and off the field. In her acceptance interview, Groff expressed gratitude, stating, Really, this recognition is a testament to my MIT women's soccer family and all the guidance, support, and friendship they have provided for me over the years.

After completing their studies, Groff and Santoro relocated to Manhattan, where Groff enrolled at New York University to pursue medical education while Santoro took on a role as an investment associate at Silver Point, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

On the fateful Saturday morning, the family traveled to Westchester County Airport in White Plains, a suburb of New York City. They boarded Michael Groffs private plane, intending to arrive at Columbia County Airport. Tragically, the aircraft crashed approximately ten miles south of its intended destination. The aftermath of the crash left the plane compressed, buckled, and embedded in the terrain of the muddy field, according to Inman.

While the pilot was operating the aircraft under instrument flight rules, which dictate flying based on instruments rather than visual cues, it is still too early to ascertain whether weather conditions contributed to the accident.

The plane had been sold about a year prior to the crash and had undergone upgrades, including a new cockpit equipped with technology certified to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards, as reported by the NTSB.

Investigators anticipate spending about a week at the crash site to gather evidence and analyze the wreckage. However, the completion of a full accident report could take anywhere from 12 to 24 months, according to the NTSB's Inman. The tragic loss of such promising young lives has left a profound impact on the community, and the investigation is expected to provide further clarity regarding the circumstances surrounding this heart-wrenching incident.

The Associated Press contributed additional reporting to this story.