A businessman who travelled to space with William Shatner last month has died after a small plane crashed in New Jersey.

Glen de Vries, 49, had been aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft on 13 October, spending more than 10 minutes in space after launching along with Shatner and others.

He was killed along with another person in the New Jersey crash, state police said.

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. pic.twitter.com/1hwnjntTVs

The plane, a single-engine Cessna 172, went down on Thursday in a wooded area of Hampton Township, in the northern part of the state.

The Federal Aviation Administration alerted public safety agencies to look for the missing plane in the afternoon.

Emergency crews found the wreckage about an hour later.

Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, said they were “devastated” over the sudden death of Mr de Vries.

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin loses legal fight to take part in NASA moon landings

William Shatner hits back at Prince William’s criticism of space travel

Prince William’s criticism of billionaire space race addressed by astronaut Tim Peake – ‘It’s incredibly important’

“He brought so much life and energy to the entire Blue Origin team and to his fellow crewmates”, the company said.

“His passion for aviation, his charitable work, and his dedication to his craft will long be revered and admired.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Mr de Vries was the founder of Medidata Solutions, a clinical research company.

The other person killed in the crash was Thomas P. Fischer, 54. the founder of a family-run flight school and its head instructor.

Mr Bezos’ partner, Lauren Sanchez, called Mr de Vries’ death a “painful loss”.

“We got to know Glen de Vries, an incredible man, and his partner Leah last month”, she wrote on Instagram.

“Leah’s love for Glen was visible every time we saw them together. When he took off for space she gripped my hand so tight it hurt. Thinking of that moment today with a broken heart. Our deepest sympathies go out to Leah and Glen’s family, we are so saddened by the tragic news.”

Related posts:

South Carolina adds firing squad to execution methods to address lethal injection shortage Why Biden’s $2.3trn infrastructure package marks return of big government – and taxes Jury shown images of George Floyd being treated in back of ambulance as he was flatlining Force used by police on George Floyd was ‘totally unnecessary’, homicide chief tells court PM meets US Secretary of State in attempt to build ties with Biden administration Derek Chauvin moves for a new trial, two weeks after being convicted of George Floyd’s murder US backing intellectual property rights waiver on COVID vaccine is ‘monumental moment’ Mark Wahlberg’s chef reveals extreme ‘7,000 calorie a day diet’ for star’s new film role Twitter suspends several accounts sharing posts from Trump’s website ‘We lost Greenville’: Gold Rush town destroyed as Californian wildfire continues to rage Woman, 70, found buried in concrete in basement after being reported missing Several web services experiencing problems due to Amazon server outage