One of the passengers of the Blue Origin rocket October space flight dies in plane crash

One of four passengers on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket, who made a brief trip to space in October, was killed in a small passenger plane crash near New York on Thursday.

Glen de Vries, a 49-year-old New York entrepreneur and avid aviation enthusiast, died alongside fellow American Thomas Fisher in their Cessna 172 crash Thursday afternoon in Sussex County, New Jersey. FAA records show de Vries was certified as a private pilot with an instrument rating, enabling him to fly into clouds and solely in reference to a plane’s instruments.

Born in 1972, Mr. de Vries was the co-founder of Medidata Solutions, a company specialising in clinical trial monitoring software for the pharmaceutical industry.

Along with three other passengers, Glen de Vries briefly flew into space on 13 October on board Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The Blue Origin company said on Twitter “We are devastated to hear of the sudden passing of Glen de Vries. 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“.

“Our thoughts and support go out to Glen’s family,” said a spokesperson for Dassault Systèmes, where de Vries was the vice-chairman of life sciences and healthcare.