Daily Beast: “Entrepreneur Glen de Vries, who blasted into space alongside Star Trek’s William Shatner last month with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, was killed in a plane crash on Thursday, New Jersey State Police said. The single-engine Cessna 172 crashed in Sussex County, New Jersey, shortly before 3 p.m., according to FAA data. De Vries, 49, and Thomas P. Fischer, 54, were killed. Rescue crews found the wreckage about an hour later. Their identities were withheld in the immediate aftermath of the crash, which is being investigated by the FAA, a state police spokesperson said.
“De Vries, a private pilot, marathoner, and ballroom dancer during his off-hours, was a molecular biologist who cofounded Medidata Solutions, a clinical research platform that was acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 1999 for $5.8 billion. His father, Alan, told The Daily Beast that he ‘hadn’t really thought about a statement to the press,’ and spoke about his late son off the cuff.
“’I can only just tell you the family is devastated by this extraordinary loss,’ he said. ‘He was one of the most amazing human beings you could’ve ever met. He gave so much to so many people, and as a result of his work, probably millions of lives have been saved. There is so much to say about him. We’re just devastated. I’m still totally in a state of shock—myself and his mother’s family and my daughter, we’re just all still in a state of shock. He lived life to the fullest, and I think he gave to the fullest. It’s just who he was.'”