Glen de Vries (left) aboard the New Shepard just over 100 km above Earth.
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Glen de Vries, owner of a healthcare software company that was one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft on October 13, died in a small plane crash in the United States on Friday, Reuters reported, citing police. in the state of New Jersey.
The second man on board the single-engine Chesna 172, who fell in a wooded area about 40 minutes before sunset, also died.
The millionaire was part of a team that traveled to the edge of space and actor William Shatner, known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk from the first TV adaptation of “Startrek” in the 60’s, 90-year-old Shatner became the oldest man who was in space, albeit for only a few minutes.
Medidata Solutions, founded by De Vries in 1999, is one of the world’s leading clinical research platforms, according to its Blue Origin profile in a statement that it has been selected for the flight. The company was bought in 2019 by the French Dassault Systemes, in which the American became vice chairman of the board on scientific and health activities. He was also on the board of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“Such a tragic loss. Hearty and full of life, Glenn made us laugh and lit up the room with his presence. He was a visionary and an innovator – a true leader,” Bezos wrote on his Twitter account.
The other person killed in the crash was 54-year-old Thomas Fischer, an aviation instructor and head of Fischer Aviation, where De Vries attended courses in 2016.
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