Man who flew with actor William Shatner to space killed in New Jersey plane crash
De Vries was the CEO of Medidata and was on board the Blue Origin flight that carried the "Star Trek" actor to space.
LAKE KEMAH, New Jersey -- A man who recently traveled to space with actor William Shatner was one of two killed in a small plane crash in New Jersey Thursday afternoon.
New Jersey State Police identified the two men who died as 49-year-old Glen De Vries and 54-year-old Thomas Fischer.
De Vries was the CEO of Medidata, and just last month was on board the Blue Origin flight that carried the "Star Trek" actor to space.
Fischer owned Fischer Aviation, a family-run flight school, and was its head instructor, according to public reports.
Troopers responded at 2:50 p.m. to the report of a small aircraft crash in Sussex County.
They located the single-engine Cessna 172 in a state park near Lake Kemah, after the FAA issued an alert for the missing aircraft.
The aircraft departed from Essex County Airport for Sussex Airport.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.
