Hampton Township, NJ, Nov. 14 (BNA): A man who traveled to space with William Shatner last month was killed along with another person when the small plane they were traveling in crashed in a wooded area of northern New Jersey, according to state police. .
The space tourist was Glenn MD Fries, 49, of New York City, and Thomas B. Fisher, 54, of Hopatkong, aboard the single-engine Cessna 172 that went down on Thursday.
De Vries was an instrument-grade private pilot, and Fischer owned a flight school. Authorities did not say who was piloting the small plane, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The plane had left Essex County Airport in Caldwell, on the outskirts of the New York City area, and was headed to Sussex Airport, in rural northwest New Jersey, when the Federal Aviation Administration alerted public safety agencies to search for the missing plane around 3 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration said emergency crews found the wreckage in Hampton Township around 4 p.m.
De Vries, the co-founder of a technology company, took a 10-minute trip to the edge of space on October 13 aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard spacecraft with Shatner and two others.
“It will take me a while to be able to describe it,” de Vries said as he installed his Blue Origin “astronaut wings” on his blue flight suit by Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.
Blue Origin tweeted on Friday: “We are devastated to hear of the sudden departure of Glenn de Vries.” “He brought so much life and energy to the entire Blue Origin team and to his crewmates. His passion for aviation, philanthropy and dedication to his craft will be respected and admired for a long time.”
De Vries co-founded Medidata Solutions, a software company specializing in clinical research, and was Vice President of Life Sciences and Healthcare at Dassault Systemes, which acquired Medidata in 2019. He auctioned for a seat on the first flight and bought a seat on the flight. the second.
De Vries also served on the Carnegie Mellon University board of directors.
Fischer owns the flight school Fischer Aviation and was its lead instructor, according to the company’s website.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
RAE