A small twin-engine plane crashed in a muddy field on Saturday near the town of Copake, N.Y., killing all six people on board — two surgeons, two of their children and the children’s partners, according to a family member of the victims.
The plane, a Mitsubishi MU-2B bound for Columbia County Airport near Hudson, N.Y., was carrying the three couples en route to a 25th birthday celebration and Passover Seder, according to a statement from a family member.
Michael Groff, the pilot, was a neurosurgeon and experienced flyer, and his wife, Joy Saini, was a pelvic surgeon. Their daughter, Karenna Groff, was a medical student at N.Y.U. Langone and a former star soccer player at M.I.T., where she was named N.C.A.A. Woman of the Year in 2022.
Ms. Groff’s partner, James Santoro, was an investment banker and had planned to propose marriage this summer, the statement said.
Ms. Groff’s brother, Jared Groff, was a paralegal at a New York hedge fund who had been planning to attend law school in the fall. His partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, was planning to attend Harvard Law School this fall.
Their deaths and identities were confirmed by a family member, Jonathan Becker, a vice president for academic affairs at Bard College. “We will remember them as the six brilliant, dynamic and loving people that they were,” he said in a statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said it was not clear what had caused it. The aircraft went down a little after noon near Two Town Road in Columbia County and did not damage any structures, Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore told reporters at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. Snow and moisture on the ground were hampering response efforts, Ms. Salvatore said.
“It’s in the middle of a field and it’s pretty muddy, so accessibility is difficult,” she said.
Albert Nixon, the lead investigator for the N.T.S.B., said the plane had been nearing Columbia County Airport when the pilot reported a missed approach and asked for guidance for another approach. The air traffic controller then received an alert that the plane was flying at a low altitude, but was unable to reach the pilot. He said there was “no reason to believe” the plane was not safe to fly.
The plane went down 10 miles from the airport.
Mr. Nixon said 14 investigators from the N.T.S.B. were examining the wreckage, which was spread across 100 yards. They are supported by experts from Mitsubishi, which made the plane, and Honeywell, which made the engine, along with agency investigators in Washington.
The plane took off from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., shortly after 11:30 a.m., flying north toward Hudson before turning east at about noon, according to the tracking site Flightradar24. Minutes later, the craft disappeared from the site near Copake, a small town bordering Taconic State Park near the Massachusetts border, two hours north of New York City.
Ms. Salvatore said that, in addition to officers from the sheriff’s department, personnel from the New York State Police and a local fire department responded to the scene. Law enforcement officials received a 911 call about the crash at around noon, she said.
At that time, the weather in the area was mostly mild, with overcast skies and wind gusts up to 26 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
In November of last year, a small plane carrying a pilot and four rescue dogs crashed roughly 50 miles west of Copake, in a remote area of the Catskill Mountains. In June, five members of a family were killed about 40 miles northeast of Binghamton, N.Y., when their small plane crashed en route from Cooperstown to Georgia.
Kristi Berner contributed reporting from Albany, N.Y.
Alyce McFadden is a reporter covering New York City and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
John Leland is a reporter covering life in New York City for The Times.
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