Entrepreneur who flew to space with actor William Shatner dies in plane crash
Medical research software mogul Glen de Vries, who flew to space last month with actor William Shatner aboard a rocketship operated by Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin, died in a small plane crash in New Jersey, state police said on Friday.
The plane crashed on Thursday in Sussex County, New Jersey, just northwest of New York City, police said, adding that De Vries, 49, and another man aboard the aircraft, Thomas Fischer, 54, were killed.
The aircraft, a single-engine Cessna 172, went down in a wooded area of a state park near Lake Kemah, New Jersey, about 40 minutes before sunset, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the crash.
No other official details surrounding the circumstances of the accident were immediately available.
“Such a tragic loss. Warm and full of life, Glen made us laugh and lit up the room.
He was a visionary, and an innovator – a true leader,” Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin’s founder and executive chairman of online retail giant Amazon.com, said on Twitter, adding he was “heartbroken”.
De Vries, an instrument-rated private pilot and founder of the clinical research company Medidata Solutions, soared to space last month in a suborbital joyride aboard the New Shepard rocketship of astro-tourism venture Blue Origin, riding along with three other civilian crew members.
The most notable of the four New Shepard passengers was Shatner, the 90-year-old actor best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk on the original 1960s television show Star Trek. The October 13 launch made Shatner the oldest person ever to fly into space.
On 13 October, Mr de Vries joined Shatner, the oldest person to fly into space, and two others on board Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft.
Glen De Vries, CMU Trustee Who Went Into Space With William Shatner, Dies In Plane Crash
Shatner’s space crewmate dies in plane crash in New Jersey
Less than a month after returning from the edge of space with crewmate William Shatner, space passenger Glen M. de Vries has died in a plane crash in northern New Jersey, said state police.
De Vries co-founded Medidata Solutions, a software company specializing in clinical research and ways to use technology to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Alongside Shatner and two others, he traveled to the edge of space on Oct. 13 aboard the New Shepard spacecraft, owned by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin company.
Entrepreneur who flew with William Shatner onboard Blue Origin to space dies in plane crash
The small aircraft crashed in Hampton around noon on Friday, police said while adding that there were two fatalities. Thomas Fischer was another man on board who died in the crash.
The plane was reportedly a Cessna 172. Fisher was reportedly a flight instructor and the owner of an aviation school.
The US Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) has begun investigating the crash. Glen de Vries was a medical research entrepreneur and founder of Medidata Solutions. The plane was reportedly a Cessna 172.
Blue Origin said it was devastated to hear about Glen de Vries death, adding that, “He brought so much life and energy to the entire Blue Origin team and to his fellow crewmates.”
His passion for aviation, his charitable work, and his dedication to his craft will long be revered and admired,” the spacecraft company added.
De Vries had undertaken the eleven-minute space journey with veteran star William Shatner,90, aboard the New Shepard spacecraft on October 13 along with NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen and Blue Origin vice president Audrey Powers.
Who is Glen de Vries ?
Glen de Vries was an American businessman and co-founder and co-CEO of Medidata Solutions and a space tourist.
(June 29, 1972 – November 11, 2021)
De Vries had founded his tech company Medidata Solutions in 1999. He was also the vice-chair at Dassault Systèmes and a certified private pilot.
Glen de Vries is the co-founder of Medidata Solutions, the world’s most used clinical research platform, and is Vice Chair Life Sciences & Healthcare at Dassault Systèmes. Glen is a Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University, the author of “The Patient Equation,” and an instrument rated private pilot.
“He brought so much life and energy to the entire Blue Origin team and to his fellow crewmates. His passion for aviation, his charitable work, and his dedication to his craft will long be revered and admired.”
De Vries was remembered as a medical pioneer by his colleagues.
“Our thoughts and support go out to Glen’s family. Our deepest sympathy also goes out to our Medidata team, which Glen co-founded,” a spokesperson for Dassault Systèmes said in a written statement.
Meanwhile, a passionate pilot, Fischer was a second-generation flight instructor who started flying under the instruction of his father at the age of 12.
Fischer prided himself on his work ethic and worked seven days a week to finance his flight training at the beginning of his career, according to his company’s Web site.
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