Former woman of the year of the NCAA, 5 other members of the family killed in a plane accident in New York State

The recipient of the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award, a former football player at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of the six victims killed in a plane crash in the north of New York on Saturday, according to a statement from her family.

Karenna Groff, medical student in Nyu Langone in the Department of Neurosurgery and former MIT football star, died when an airplane with twin turboprophers crashed 10 miles from Columbia County Airport near the city of Copake, New York, Saturday afternoon.

Five others – including Groff’s partner James Santoro – died in the accident, the family said.

“It was very impatient to offer his love, Karenna, this summer,” the family said in a statement provided to ABC News.

Only one woman each year is chosen as a ncaa woman of the year, with three finalists each of the divisions I, II and III. Honor has been given since 1991 and includes winners such as rebecca Lobo renowned temple basketball (1995), the Olympic gold medal swimmer Kimberly Black (2001) and triple triple triple Keturah Orji (2018).

The passengers deceased were all members of the Groff family, including the parents of Groff, Joy Saini and Michael Groff; His brother, Jared Groff; And her partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, said the family.

Joy Saini was a pelvic surgeon and Michael Groff was a neurosurgeon because their daughter was training, according to the family.

“We will remember them like the six brilliant, dynamic and loving people they were,” said the family. “Families ask for intimacy during this difficult period.”

The family said information about funerals and commemorative monuments will be coming.

On Sunday, during a press briefing, the National Transportation Safety Board said that the pilot had reported a “missed approach” and “of the vectors requested for another approach”. Officials said the pilot returned: “The radar said a low altitude alert.”

An air traffic controller tried to “relay this low -altitude alert” and tried to contact the driver three times an additional, but failed, according to the main investigator of the NTSB for this incident, Albert Nixon.

“There was no response from the pilot and there was no distress call,” said Nixon.

The plane, which left Westchester County Airport to Columbia County Airport, crashed “at a high descent rate” in a “flat agricultural field”, said the NTSB. It was the second flight of the plane of the day

The authorities would not say who was driving the plane, but the family declaration noted that Michael Groff was “an experienced pilot, who fell in love with the flight after being taught by his father at the age of sixteen”.

During a press briefing on Monday afternoon, the NTSB said that the pilot, who also owned the plane, had to take additional training as well as a driver license, which was completed in October 2024.

Officials also said that there was “deteriorated weather conditions” there near the accident scene.

The NTSB will remain on site for the next five days to collect all “perishable equipment” and a preliminary report on the survey will be available in the next 30 days.

Groff was captain of the Football team of Division III of MIT and ended his secondary career of all time in goals and points at school. She was a second All-American team as a junior and a third All-American team in her last season.

Ayesha Ali and Emmese Marche from ABC News contributed to this report