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Glen de Vries: William Shatner's spacecraft partner dies in plane crash

Reuters Glen de Vries, left, with other passengers, including William Shatner, centre right, on Blue Origin’s New Shepard last monthReuters
Glen de Vries, far left, with other passengers, including William Shatner, centre right, on Blue Origin’s New Shepard

A US businessman who blasted into space with Star Trek actor William Shatner has died in a plane crash less than a month later.

Glen de Vries, 49, was aboard a single-engine aircraft which crashed in woodland in the US state of New Jersey on Thursday.

The other person on the flight, Thomas Fischer, 54, was also killed.

Mr De Vries, who joined Mr Shatner on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's New Shepard spacecraft, was a tech entrepreneur.

The Cessna 172 plane crashed in a wooded area of a state park near Lake Kemah, about 40 minutes before sunset, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the crash.

After landing, William Shatner tearfully said the experience had been "unbelievable"

On 13 October Mr De Vries travelled on the Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule with Mr Shatner, who became the oldest person to go into space.

Mr Bezos tweeted that he was "heartbroken".

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Mr De Vries founded the medical research company Medidata Solutions in 1999. It ranks as the world's most used clinical research platform, according to a profile of Mr Vries posted by Blue Origin prior to his trip to space.