CEO Of Oil Giant Total Reportedly Killed In Moscow Plane Crash

[KeepItReal]

Source: Radio Free Europe

Russian media reported October 21, citing aviation and law enforcement sources, that the CEO of French oil company Total, Christophe de Margerie, has died after a private jet crashed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The TASS news agency cited an aviation source as saying, "There was one passenger registered on the plane, French citizen Christophe de Margerie. The three crew members were also French citizens. They all died."

According to TASS, during the takeoff of the Falcon-50 jet collided with a snow removal machine in thick fog. The plane was headed for France.


Read more: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-total/26647194.html

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BBC Coverage here: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29699733

[Control-Z]

1. So tragic.

My thoughts are with their families.

[valerief]

2. Now, if it had been the CEO of a solar energy company, I'd feel really bad. nt

[Throd]

3. ugh

[lasttrip]

5. Total owns a major stake

Of Sunpower Corp. so he was. Ok to feel bad now.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunPower

[Iamthetruth]

10. Amazing

Not really

[BlueEye]

4. Accusations of foul play will probably arise, given the intense energy rivalry between Total S.A.

and it's Russian counterparts like Gazprom and Lukoil.

It was probably an accident, but one can only wonder. The Russians play dirty. The CEO of BP stated in an interview a couple years ago that he actually believed he was going to be murdered when a meeting with Russian business counterparts turned ugly.

[Purveyor]

6. It is being reported that the driver of the snowplow also died.

The 63-year-old chief executive officer died at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport in the crash that also killed three crew members and the driver of the plow, Total said in a statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-21/french-oil-giant-boss-dies-in-moscow-executive-jet-crash.html

[Nihil]

13. Nope, the driver is still alive.

> “During run-up at 11.57pm there was a collision with the airport’s snow plough. As a result of
> the crash the passenger and all the crew members died,” the Vnukovo airport said in a statement.
> The driver of the snowplough survived.

> The driver, named as Vladimir Martynenko, denies any guilt, his lawyer said.
> “He (Martynenko) is in shock. He considers himself guiltless as he followed all the instructions
> from the dispatcher,” lawyer Alexander Karabanov told Reuters.

(http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/21/total-boss-killed-plane-crash-christophe-de-margerie-drunk-driver)

[defacto7]

7. What is it about

Putin and sudden death of rivals? Hmmm? Could there be some kind of strange negative aura or astrological convergence?

It's seems the mathematical probabilities are shifting a little too eastward.

(how's that for being vague?)

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. investigators blame drunk driver

The driver of a snow plough involved in a deadly plane crash that killed the head of French oil company Total was drunk, according to Russian investigators.

Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of Total, was killed when a private jet collided with a snow plough at Moscow’s Vnukovo international airport on Monday night.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, an agency which answers to President Vladimir Putin, said: “At the moment, it is already established that the driver of the snow plough was in a condition of alcoholic intoxication,” it said.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/21/total-boss-killed-plane-crash-christophe-de-margerie-drunk-driver

And, given the rumours above:

A staunch defender of Russia and its energy policies amid the conflict in Ukraine, De Margerie told Reuters in a July interview that Europe should stop thinking about cutting its dependence on Russian gas and focus instead on making those deliveries safer.

[quadrature]

9. '''accident''' ...yea sure ....nt

[Blue_Tires]

12. Yeah, it's an accident

a massive failure on the part of ATC and the ground controller...

And incidents like these have happened before...

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Moscow Total plane crash snowplough driver 'got lost'

A snowplough driver at a Moscow airport has said he lost his bearings before a collision with a private plane in which Total boss Christophe de Margerie died.
...
His family insisted he was not drunk. "My client has chronic heart disease, he doesn't drink at all," his lawyer Alexander Karabanov told Interfax news agency.

"When I lost my bearings I did not notice when I drove out on to the runway," Mr Martynenkov told Russia's Channel One TV.

"The plane was preparing to take off, and I practically didn't see it or hear it because the machine was running. I didn't even see the lights, I did not see a thing, and then the crash happened."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29722498