A man who flew to space with William Shatner has tragically died in a plane crash.
Glen de Vries, 49, was aboard the same Blue Origin flight on October 13, as the legendary Star Trek actor who became the oldest man in space.
Businessman and pilot Glen and Thomas P. Fisher, 54, were aboard a single-engine aircraft that crashed in woodland near Lake Kemah, New Jersey at around 4pm on Thursday.
The plane had been reported missing nearly an hour earlier.
Tech founder de Vries started training for his private pilot licence five years ago with Fisher, who ran flight school Fisher Aviation, Daily Voices reports.
Their plane crash landed on during its 45 mile trip from Essex County Airport to Sussex Airport, according to the FAA, which is investigating the crash with The National Transportation Safety Board.
After leaving Earth on a voyage with William Shatner aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, de Vries told Pittsburgh station KDKA that he hoped he had inspire others.
He said: “I thought that would be important to me before we went up, and having done it makes me feel twice as much conviction.
“Maybe a thousand times more conviction. That is something we need to make accessible, in an equitable way, to as many people on the planet as possible.”
Tributes for the 49-year-old from New York have begun to stream in from friends and colleagues.
Nadia M. Bracken, who worked at Medidata Solutions, co-founded by de Vries, wrote on Twitter: “The world lost a visionary.
A spokesman for Dassault Systèmes, which acquired Medidata for $5.8 billion two years ago, said: “Our thoughts and support go out to Glen’s family.
“Our deepest sympathy also goes out to our MEDIDATA team, which Glen co-founded.
“His tireless energy, empathy and pioneering spirit left their mark on everyone who knew him. We will truly miss Glen, but his dreams — which we share — live on: we will pursue progress in life sciences & healthcare as passionately as he did.”
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