Over the weekend, the United States witnessed another harrowing plane crash. Joy Saini, an Indian-origin doctor, was subsequently identified as one of the six victims of the heart-rending accident in New York.
Saini was among six people — a family of doctors and student athletes — on board the twin-engine plane Mitsubishi MU-2B-40, according to an official’s statement to the Associated Press on Sunday. The small private jet crashed in an open muddy filed near Copake, said the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane was headed to the Columbia County Airport in Hudson, which is about 30 miles from Copake.
Indian-origin doctor Joy Saini and her family killed in New York plane crash
As more details of the deceased victims were released, it was found that Joy Saini was a member of the Groff family. All aboard the plane were instantly presumed dead on the scene. While the Indian-origin doctor was the mother, neuroscientist Michael Groff was the father. Their MIT-attending daughter Karenna and her boyfriend James Sontoro were also killed in the plane crash on Saturday, the latter’s father has since confirmed.
According to the Times Union, the Groff family’s son Jared and his partner Alexia Couyutas Duarte were also eventually identified as the victims of the private jet accident. The Massachusetts doctor couple’s third child, daughter Anika, was not aboard Michael’s plane. The New York Post reported that the family was destined to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration. Before the tragedy, the family departed from a White Plains airport on Saturday morning. They were all due to land at the Columbia County Airport around noon.
Who was Dr Joy Saini?
Joy Saini was born in Punjab, India, as per family sources cited by Mid Hudson News. She immigrated with her parents, Kuljit and Gurdev Singh.
According to her profile on BostonPelvic.com, the official website for Boston Pelvic Health & Wellness championing women’s health, Saini was a respected urogynecologist and reconstructive pelvic surgeon. She was dedicated to the cause of caring for women with pelvic floor disorders and training Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) fellows to do the same.
Having founded Boston Pelvic Health & Wellness, Joy Saini was committed to “providing the highest level of care for women with pelvic floor disorders in an environment designed just for women and by women.” She got her Medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
She also completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology (ob/gyn) at The New York Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornell Medical Center and fellowship in FPMRS at New York University Medical Center. As one of the first women in the US to receive fellowship training in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, Saini was also one of the first to be board certified when the discipline earned official medical subspecialty status in 2013.
The Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (FACOG) was double board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ABOG) in ob/gyn and FPMRS.
Before her Boston Pelvic Health & Wellness days, she served as an attending physician and associate fellowship program director at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Centre. Additionally, she took on a similar role as an attending physician and assistant professor at New York University Medical Centre and Indiana University Medical Centre.
Her detailed official profile on the Boston Pelvic website briefly mentions her family, stating that she lived in Weston with her husband, three children and family dog. As for her life outside of her profession, she was actively involved in her community as a board member of several local organisations. Skiing, travelling, cooking, gardening and spending time with her family defined her personal life.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck on Saturday after the plane’s pilot contacted air traffic controllers about having missed their approach. When requesting advice to make a second attempt, the tower signalled “a low altitude alert.” Thereafter, all contact with the plane was lost. Moments later, the Groff family private jet collapsed in the field, as per National Transportation Safety Board Investigator Albert Nixon at a press conference. The plane crash investigation is ongoing.