Glen de Vries, who recently went into space onboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket, has died just a month later at the age of 49.
The co-founder of Medidata Solutions had a passion for aviation and managed to achieve a lifelong dream last month.
de Vries was taking aviation lessons with Thomas Fischer, 54, of Fischer Aviation, when their plane crashed in Sussex County, New Jersey at 3 p.m, the Daily Mail has reported.
Both of the men died, say New Jersey State Police.
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The cause of the crash is still unclear and it's unknown which person was flying the plane at the time.
"A huge light has gone out in the world, his wife, Maria, told the Daily Beast.
"I would just say that Glen was an amazing man, larger than life. He always seemed like a superhero to me, so smart, so talented, generous and really funny."
Last month, the 49-year-old boarded Bezos's rocket with William Shatner, Australian entrepreneur Chris Boshuizen and Blue Origin executive Audrey Powers and he said the experience was 'a dream come true'.
Blue Origin tweeted on Friday (12 Nov): "We are devastated to hear of the sudden passing of Glen de Vries.
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"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."
de Vries was a molecular biologist and made his wealth through Medidata Solutions, which facilitates the most used clinical research platform in the world, as per CBS.
The company's software has managed more than 25,000 clinical trials involving more than seven million people.
Medidata was taken over by Dassault Systems in 1999 for $5.8 billion (£4.4 billion).
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de Vries's father, Alan, said: "He was one of the most amazing human beings you could've ever met.
"He gave so much to so many people, and as a result of his work, probably millions of lives have been saved. We're just devastated.
"I'm still totally in a state of shock-myself and his mother's family and my daughter, we're just all still in a state of shock.
"He lived life to the fullest, and I think he gave to the fullest. It's just who he was."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: jeff bezos, US News, space
