A Dassault Falcon 50 carrying the CEO of French oil company Total crashed into a snowplow on a Moscow runway as the airplane accelerated for takeoff late Monday night, killing the executive, 63-year-old Christophe de Margerie, along with the two pilots and a flight attendant.
The crash happened at Vnukovo International Airport a few minutes before midnight in low visibility, airport officials said. Russian prosecutors said the snowplow driver was intoxicated. Television footage of the crash scene showed the burned wreckage of the jet, as well as the seeming unhurt snowplow driver.