Karena Groff, a former soccer player at MIT tragically died in a plane crash in New York on Saturday, April 12, along with six other people including her family members.
As per BBC, the family was travelling to celebrate a holiday when the crash occurred.
The family released a statement identifying all the people who died in the crash including Karenna, her parents, Dr Michael Groff and Dr Joy Saini, her brother Jared Groff, his partner Alexia Couyutas Duarte and Karenna’s partner, James Santoro.
As per the reports, the pilot of the plane was Karenna’s father, Dr Groff who was described as “experienced” in a statement from the family.
However, neither the family nor the authorities have officially confirmed that he was the one flying the plane when it crashed.
Karenna was honoured as the Women of the Year by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2022.
An official from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) explained that the plane was “compressed, buckled and embedded in the terrain” of a muddy field near Craryville, New York.
The officials mentioned that air traffic control tried to contact the pilot multiple times but there was no response or any distress signal from the plane.
Furthermore, they pointed out that the plane had an upgraded cockpit with modern technology, meeting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards.
However, an investigation is currently ongoing and the final report of the crash will be released by NTSB in 12 to 24 months.