A former top college football player has died along with members of her family in a private plane crash in New York state.

The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B went down shortly after noon on Saturday in a muddy field in Copake, near the Massachusetts border, killing all six people on board.

Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a former MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) football player, who was named the 2022 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) woman of the year.

Her neuroscientist father, Dr Michael Groff, her mother, Dr Joy Saini, a urogynecologist, and her brother, Jared Groff, who worked as a paralegal, were also killed.

Karenna Groff’s boyfriend, James Santoro, and Jared Groff’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, also died.

Mr Santoro’s father, John Santoro, said: “The 25 years we had with James were the best years of our lives… and the joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime.”

He described Karenna Groff and her relatives as “a wonderful family”.

“The world lost a lot of very good people who were going to do a lot of good for the world if they had the opportunity. We’re all personally devastated,” he added.

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They boarded Michael Groff’s private plane at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, a suburb of New York City, on Saturday morning to fly to Columbia County Airport.

But the aircraft crashed around 10 miles to the south and was left “compressed, buckled and embedded in the terrain”, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) official Todd Inman said.

Shortly before the plane came down, the pilot had radioed air traffic control at Columbia County Airport to say he had missed the initial approach and requested a new approach plan, he said.

Investigators obtained video of the final seconds of the flight, which “appears to show that the aircraft was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent into the ground,” he added.

A full accident report could take between 12 and 24 months to complete.

It comes days after a family of five Spanish tourists, including three children, were killed in a helicopter crash in the Hudson River on Thursday.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were forced to flee in the middle of the night during Passover after an alleged arsonist set fire to their residence, authorities said. 

Mr Shapiro, a Democrat seen as a potential candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028, said he and his family woke up at about 2am on Sunday to “bangs on the door” by police after a fire was allegedly set at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg.

Mr Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family were evacuated as the fire service tackled the flames.

“Thank God no one was injured,” he said in a post on X.

A 38-year-old man identified as Cody Balmer, from Harrisburg, was arrested later in the day.

He will face charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities said.

“Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities,” Mr Shapiro said on X.

“Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”

The suspect’s motive is still unknown.

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According to Pennsylvania police officials, he slipped over a fence around the property carrying homemade incendiary devices and evaded state troopers long enough to enter the residence, set it on fire and leave.

On Saturday, Mr Shapiro posted a picture of his family’s “seder” table as they celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

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