Six die in Copake plane crash

COPAKE — A Mitsubishi MU-2B-40 plane carrying six people crashed in an open field near Two Town Road shortly after noon on Saturday, April 12, killing all aboard.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the aircraft departed from Westchester County Airport and was headed to Columbia County Airport in Hudson.

NTSB board member Todd Inman said Sunday night that the plane‘s passengers were headed to the area for a holiday celebration with family.

Among the victims were Karenna and Jared Groff, their parents Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini; and Alexia Couyutas Duarte and James Santoro, according to a family statement.

The NTSB will lead the investigation and expects it will be approximately 30 days before a preliminary report is issued. A full report may take 12 to 24 months, Inman said. The NTSB expects to be on the scene in Craryville for at least a week.

Albert Nixon, an NTSB investigator, will be in charge of the investigation, which will include up to 14 team members.

Inman said the agency has obtained video of the crash, and added that the impact site is 100 yards in length and that the aircraft is intact, but buckled and embedded in the muddy, snow-covered field.

He said the plane appeared to be intact and was flying “at a high rate of descent into the ground.”

NTSB has retrieved data from the plane and is aware that the pilot had missed an initial approach to the airport in Hudson and was being redirected to make another approach. Inman said that air traffic control received a “low altitude report” from radar, but was unable to make contact with the pilot despite three attempts.

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

Inman thanked the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office for its assistance on the scene and after investigators arrived Saturday. He said there are no plans to release the video, and appealed to anyone who might have other video, eyewitness accounts or information to get in touch with the agency.

In a news conference on Saturday, Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore said the plane crash occurred in a muddy field on Two Town Road in the Craryville section near Route 23. The crash site is 10 miles from the Columbia County Airport.

Parties to the investigation include Mitsubishi, which manufactured the plane, and Honeywell, maker of the engines as well as the FAA and the air traffic controllers union.

Inman said the plane had been sold approximately one year ago, and that it had upgraded avionics. Its tail number is: NOV635TA, indicating it was manufactured in 1985.

As of Saturday afternoon, agencies on the scene included the Copake Fire District and rescue squads, along with State Police, the coroner and the Sheriff’s Department.