New Jersey State Police identified the two men who died as 49-year-old Glen De Vries and 54-year-old Thomas Fischer.
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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.
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The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.