Daijiworld Media Network – New York

New York, Apr 14: In a heartbreaking tragedy, a Punjab-born surgeon, Dr Joy Saini, her husband, two children and their partners were killed when a small plane crashed while attempting to land in New York state on Saturday.

The family confirmed the loss in a statement on Sunday, mourning the death of Dr Saini, her husband Dr Michael Groff, their children Karenna and Jared Groff, and their partners James Santoro and Alexia Couyutas Duarte.

According to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Albert Nixon, the Mitsubishi MU2B aircraft was trying to land at Columbia County Airport, about 200 km from New York City, when the crash occurred. The pilot, Dr Groff, had missed the initial approach and requested a second attempt. However, the air traffic controller noticed the aircraft flying unusually low and tried to alert the pilot but it was too late.

The plane had taken off from Westchester Airport and crashed roughly 10 miles from its destination, near the Massachusetts border.

Dr Saini, a renowned urogynecologist and female pelvic reconstructive surgeon in Boston, immigrated to the U S from Punjab with her parents and earned her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where she met Dr Groff, a neurosurgeon and passionate pilot trained by his father at age 16.

Their daughter Karenna was a medical student, and her partner, James Santoro, an investment banker who was planning to propose soon, also perished. Jared, their son, and his partner Alexia, a law student, were also among the victims.

The couple is survived by their daughter Anika and Saini’s mother, Kuljit Singh.

The crash was one of three fatal aviation incidents in the U.S. over the past three days, including a Cessna 310 crash in South Florida and a helicopter crash in the Hudson River that killed a Spanish family and their pilot.