“We will remember them as the six brilliant, dynamic, and loving people that they were,” the statement said.
The group left Westchester County Airport in New York on Saturday morning heading for Columbia County Airport near the Massachusetts border, National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said at a Sunday briefing.
Around 12:06 p.m., the twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B crashed 10 miles from Columbia County Airport in a “flat, agricultural field” in Copake, N.Y., Inman said.
Inman said the NTSB had acquired a video of the final seconds before the plane crashed that appears to show the “aircraft was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent into the ground.”
NTSB investigator Albert Nixon, said the pilot “reported a missed approach” and requested a new approach plan to air traffic control. The pilot was reached out to three additional times to relay a low altitude alert, but there was no response and no distress call was made from the plane, Nixon said.
Investigators expect to be at the crash site for about a week and a full accident report could take between 12 and 24 months to complete, Inman said.
Groff, the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Engineering in 2022 from MIT and a Master of Engineering in Biological Engineering in 2023, according to Kimberly Allen, executive director of media relations and crisis communications at MIT. Santoro earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance in 2022, Allen said in a statement.
“They were a wonderful family,” Santoro’s father, John Santoro, told the Associated Press. “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.”
John said his son first met Groff as a freshman studying at MIT. Santoro grew up in Tewksbury, New Jersey and is a graduate of the Delbarton School. He was planning to propose to Groff this summer, according to the family statement.
Groff was also a volunteer counselor at Camp Kesem at MIT, served as a teaching assistant for the MIT Department of Biological Engineering, and was a co-founder of MIT Slums & Informal Settlements Research Group, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was only the second MIT student-athlete ever to earn NCAA Woman of the Year honors.
Groff was one of nine finalists for the award, which is presented annually to a graduating female student-athlete who has distinguished herself in athletics, academics, leadership, and community service.
“Our deepest condolences are with the impacted families and with all those who knew the deceased,” Allen, from MIT, said.
In an interview with the Globe in January 2023, Groff, a 2018 Weston High graduate, said she wasn’t expecting to win the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
“I was shocked,” Groff said at the time. “They had a gold envelope like it was the Golden Globes and they called my name. I was so overwhelmed, and the first thing I said was, ‘What am I going to say in the speech?‘”
At the ceremony, Groff was praised for her work in clinical research at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she focused on the genetic basis of epilepsy with the hope of generating a new gene theory for children.
“I always want to give back,” Groff said in 2023. “I feel like it’s a responsibility I have as a human part of a community.”
During her athletic career at MIT, Groff led her soccer team to four NCAA Division 3 tournaments as a two-time captain.
In April, 2023, Groff threw the first pitch before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
She was a second-year student at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and was accepted to train in the neurosurgery program, according to Steve Ritea, a spokesperson for the school.
“She had already distinguished herself as a rising star inside and outside the classroom, with limitless possibilities on the horizon,” Ritea said.
“Karenna demonstrated exceptional skill and unwavering passion towards the care of patients and the mission of our institution,” Ritea continued.
Groff’s father, Michael, was pursuing an Executive MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, according to Allen. Michael was also the executive medical director of neurosciences at Rochester Regional Health, an integrated health services organization in New York with nine hospitals.
“Dr. Groff was a highly respected neurosurgeon and physician leader, known for his clinical excellence, compassionate care, and unwavering commitment to advancing the field of neuroscience,” Richard Davis, CEO of Rochester Regional Health, said in a statement.
Michael “became a distinguished neurosurgeon” and was also “an experienced pilot, who fell in love with flying after being taught by his father at the age of sixteen,” the family statement said.
Groff’s mother, Saini, was a pelvic surgeon and the founder of Boston Pelvic Health and Wellness, according to the family statement. She trained in medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, where she met Michael Groff, who became a distinguished neurosurgeon and experienced pilot, the statement said.
Information about funerals and memorials will be forthcoming, according to the family.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Correction: A previous version of the story misstated what year MIT’s Karenna Groff won the NCAA Woman of the Year award due to an Associated Press error.
Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. Follow her @Ava_Berger_.
