Latest news with #JaredGroff
Boston Globe
16-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Weston family killed in N.Y. plane crash laid to rest in funeral service
The Advertisement The crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The cause of the crash has not been determined. NTSB officials said Advertisement NTSB officials said the pilot 'reported a missed approach' and asked air traffic control for a new approach plan. Traffic controllers reached out to the pilot three additional times to relay a low altitude alert, but there was no response, officials said. No distress call was made from the plane. Michael Groff was certified to pilot commercial aircraft as well as private aircraft, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. Groff's family said flying was his longtime passion, learning from his father when he was 16. Groff and Saini were longtime surgeons in Boston. Groff was a top neuroscientist at Mass General Brigham until last summer when he took over as the executive medical director of neurosciences at Their children, Karenna and Jared, were accomplished student-athletes embarking on their careers. Karenna Groff was a four-year starter for MIT's soccer team and in 2022 was named NCAA Woman of the Year. While studying at MIT, she worked with Dr. Mustafa Sahin at Boston Children's Hospital, searching for a genetic understanding — and possible cures — for epilepsy. Groff followed her academic successes at MIT with admission to New York University Medical School's highly selective program for accelerated study in neuroscience. Jared Groff graduated from Swarthmore College in 2022, where he was a member of the basketball team and helped squads that won a Centennial Conference championship and reached the NCAA Division III National Championship game for the first time in program history. Before college, Groff was a 1,000-point scorer in his basketball career at Weston High School. Groff was working as a paralegal in New York and was preparing to enter law school next fall. Advertisement The family's youngest daughter, Anika, who was not on the plane, is set to graduate high school this year. Jared Groff and Alexia Couyutas Duarte were both graduates of Swarthmore College. Couyutas Duarte Family Alexia Couyutas Duarte, Jared Groff's partner, also graduated from Swarthmore and planned to attend Harvard Law School this fall. Couyutas Duarte began her career as a legal intake specialist at the Rian Immigrant Center in Boston and most recently worked as a paralegal in the pro bono initiative unit at MetroWest Legal Services in Framingham, Swarthmore officials said. James Santoro, Karenna Groff's boyfriend, was also a recent MIT graduate, earning a bachelor's degree in finance in 2022 and playing lacrosse. They met when they were MIT freshmen, and Santoro planned to propose to Groff this summer, according to his father, John Santoro. Santoro grew up in Tewksbury, N.J. Nick Stoico can be reached at
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Aircraft type in deadly NY crash that killed Mass. family has history of fatal incidents
You won't find any Mitsubishi Mu-2s at Norwood Airport. It's a relatively rare bird, with production ending almost forty years ago. First introduced in 1963, the twin turboprop was aimed at customers who wanted jet-like performance at lower cost. Its relatively short take-off and landing performance meant the plane could also access smaller fields — even while carrying up to a dozen passengers. 'Unimaginable and sudden loss': Weston High School mourns family killed in New York plane crash But the aircraft racked up a number of incidents over the years. According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives (BAAA) the MU-2 was involved in 37 fatal accidents worldwide in just the last 25 years — with 72 killed. 'The control surfaces on the Mitsubishi MU-2 are slightly different than on your typical general aviation aircraft,' said Anthony Brickhouse, an Associate Professor of Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. 'I'm not saying in any way they are unsafe. They are just different and it requires some special training to understand those dynamics.' In fact, proper training appears to have been key in reviving the reputation of the MU-2. In 2008, the FAA enacted SFAR (Special Federal Aviation Regulation) 108 — which mandated additional training for MU-2 pilots. Since then, the BAAA lists just 12 accidents worldwide involving the type — 8 in the United States. And Brickhouse said Mitsubishi continues to push the safety issue with MU-2 operators. 'A few summers ago, I remember actually going to a conference literally just for MU-2 owners and operators,' he said. 'And that entire conference was focused on safety.' Brickhouse said the focus of NTSB investigators will cover people, environment and mechanicals — that is pilot training, pilot response, weather and the plane itself. He said even small clues can offer major evidence. 'How metal breaks, how metal bends can speak to whether something was overloaded or whether it failed from fatigue or something like that,' Brickhouse said. On Sunday, a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B private plane was on its way to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and the Passover holiday when it went down into a muddy field in Copake near the Massachusetts border, killing everyone on board. Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; her father, a neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist; her brother, Jared Groff, a 2022 graduate of Swarthmore College who worked as a paralegal; James Santoro, Karennas boyfriend and another recent MIT graduate and Alexia Couyutas Duarte, Jared Groff's partner. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
CBS News
14-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Multiple members of Swarthmore College community killed in New York small plane crash
Multiple family members and three alumni of a Pennsylvania college community were killed in a small plane crash in Copake, New York, Saturday afternoon. In a statement Monday, Swarthmore College identified the members of the school community as Alexia Couyutas Duarte, Jared Groff and Groff's parents, Michael Groff and Joy Saini, and sister Karenna Groff and her partner, James Santoro. The six victims were going to a Passover celebration for the weekend. The plane, which was a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B, left Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, and was heading to Columbia County Airport in Hudson, New York, when it crashed. It's still unclear what caused the crash. Swarthmore College remembered the three "extraordinary" alumni in an announcement to the school community. According to the Delaware County college, Duarte was a Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in economics and political science. The 2023 graduate recently worked as a paralegal in the pro bono initiative unit at MetroWest Legal Services in Miami, Florida, and planned to attend Harvard Law School in the fall. Jared Groff also graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and political science. The 2022 graduate played on the men's basketball team and reached the NCAA Division III National Championship during his time at Swarthmore. He most recently worked as a paralegal at DW Partners in New York and also planned to attend law school in the fall. Michael Groff was a neurosurgeon and served as the executive medical director of neuroscience at Rochester Regional Health in New York. He and his wife, Saini, a pelvic surgeon, met at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The couple is survived by their daughter, Anika, who was accepted to Swarthmore's class of 2029, according to the school. Duarte is survived by her sister, Ariana Couyutas Duarte, who was studying abroad at the time of the crash. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those we lost on Saturday, and to everyone affected by their tragic passing. Please join us in sending them peace and light," the announcement read in part. Swarthmore College said it plans to honor and remember the lives lost from their community when the time is right and when their families feel it's most meaningful.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
No Survivors in Another Plane Crash
Earlier this year, a high-profile plane crash occurred when an American Airlines commercial airliner crashed into an Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing everyone aboard each craft. Since then, a few other deadly crashes have made headlines, and another one occurred this weekend. Over the weekend, a small private aircraft crashed in upstate New York, killing all six people aboard the plane, including members of a close-knit family of physicians and distinguished student-athletes. Astatement from the family obtained by the Associated Press identified the victims as Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; her father, a neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist; her brother, Jared Groff, a 2022 graduate of Swarthmore College who worked as a paralegal; Alexia Couyutas Duarte, Jared Groff's partner who also graduated Swarthmore and planned to attend Harvard Law School this fall; and Karenna Groff's boyfriend, James Santoro, another recent MIT graduate. 'They were a wonderful family,' James' father, John Santoro, told AP. 'The world lost a lot of very good people who were going to do a lot of good for the world if they had the opportunity. We're all personally devastated.' Shortly before the crash, the pilot had radioed air traffic control at Columbia County Airport, saying that he had missed the initial approach and requested a new approach plan, National Transportation Safety Board officials said on Sunday. While giving new coordinates to the plane, air traffic controllers attempted to relay a low-altitude alert three times and received no response from the pilot and no distress call. NTSB official Todd Inman told reporters that the board had received video showing the final seconds of the crash, which 'appears to show that the aircraft was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent into the ground." This comes after there were no survivors in a fiery crash in Boca Raton, Florida, earlier this month, and no survivors in a plane crash in Minnesota last month. Authorities are still looking into the crash in an investigation that could take up to 24 months.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Unimaginable and sudden loss': Weston High School mourns family killed in New York plane crash
The Weston community is in mourning following the loss of a family after a plane crash in upstate New York over the weekend. The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B private plane was on its way to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and the Passover holiday when it went down into a muddy field in Copake near the Massachusetts border killing everyone on board. Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; her father, a neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist; her brother, Jared Groff, a 2022 graduate of Swarthmore College who worked as a paralegal; James Santoro, Karennas boyfriend and another recent MIT graduate and Alexia Couyutas Duarte, Jared Groff's partner. Kareena and Jared were both graduates of Weston High School. Weston Public Schools superintendent Dr. Karen Zalenski and Weston High School principal Sue Bairstow, released a statement to the community on Sunday. 'We are deeply saddened to hear the news of a terrible tragedy involving the Groff family, all valued and beloved members of our Weston Public School community,' the statement said. 'Their lives ended far too soon, and our hearts are with all those who are grieving this unimaginable and sudden loss,' the statement went on to say. John Santoro, James' father, tells Boston 25 his son first met Groff as a freshman at MIT. Groff, was an All-American soccer player studying biomedical engineering at MIT and was named the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year. 'Still couldn't believe it was true. I still don't believe it's true,' John Santoro said. According to Santoro, the couple were excited to embark on a new chapter in New York City after both graduating from MIT, and were planning to get engaged this summer. 'Still don't believe it's true': Plane crash kills two recent MIT student-athletes, Drs from Weston 'Out of respect for the family and especially for our student who is grieving the loss of her loved ones, we ask that all members of our community honor their privacy during this deeply personal time,' Zalenski said. 'Our role as a school community is to surround them with quiet care, compassion, and space to heal,' she added The school district is making counselors available for students and providing guidance for anyone who may have questions. The school also wrote that a family member who was not on the plane is a student at the high school. 'In moments like this, we are reminded of the strength of our community and the importance of being there for one another,' the school said. According to the AP, the plane was set to land at Columbia County Airport but crashed roughly 10 miles to the south. According to the NTSB a full accident report could take between 12 and 24 months to complete. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
