A tragic plane crash in New York state has claimed the lives of Punjab-born surgeon Joy Saini, her husband, two children, and their respective partners. The small aircraft, piloted by Saini’s husband, crashed on Saturday while attempting to land at Columbia County Airport, around 200 km from New York City.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that the Mitsubishi MU2B aircraft missed its initial landing approach. According to NTSB investigator Albert Nixon, the pilot attempted a second landing, but the aircraft was flying at a dangerously low altitude. Air traffic controllers tried to warn the pilot, but the plane crashed roughly 10 miles from the airport near the Massachusetts border.

The family had taken off from Westchester Airport, a suburban airport just outside New York City.

Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist and female pelvic reconstructive surgeon based in Boston, had immigrated to the United States with her parents. She received her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where she met her husband, Dr. Michael Groff, a neurosurgeon.

Groff, described by the family as an “experienced pilot” who began flying at the age of 16 under the guidance of his father, was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash.

The couple’s daughter, Karenna Groff, a medical student, and her partner, James Santoro, an investment banker who was planning to propose, were among the victims. Their son, Jared Groff, and his partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, a law student, also perished.

Saini and Groff are survived by another daughter, Anika Groff, and Saini’s mother, Kuljit Singh.

This was the second aviation tragedy in the US in three days. On Friday, a Cessna 310 aircraft crashed near Boca Raton, Florida, killing three people. On Thursday, a sightseeing helicopter carrying a Spanish family crashed into the Hudson River, resulting in six fatalities.