William Shatner's Crewmate on Blue Origin Spaceflight Died Thursday in a Plane Crash

Last month 49-year-old Glen de Vries travelled with William Shatner into space with two other crewmembers on Blue Origin's sub-orbital capsule.

Today NBC News announced de Vries 'was one of two men killed Thursday in a plane crash in New Jersey, officials said.'

Glen de Vries, 49, of New York City, and Thomas P. Fischer, 54, of Hopatcong, New Jersey, died following the small aircraft crash shortly before 3 p.m. in Hampton Township, according to New Jersey State Police...

De Vries co-founded software company Medidata Solutions, which specializes in management of electronic data from clinical trials. He also served as a trustee for Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. 'We will truly miss Glen, but his dreams — which we share — live on: we will pursue progress in life sciences & healthcare as passionately as he did,' Medidat said in a statement.

Newsweek reports that upon his return to earth, de Vries told a Pittsburgh TV station that space travel 'is something we need to make accessible in an equitable way, to as many people on the planet as possible.'

In a tweet on Friday, Blue Origin wrote, '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,' the tweet continued. 'His passion for aviation, his charitable work, and his dedication to his craft will long be revered and admired.'

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