Russian plane crash: snowplow driver was drunk

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By LYNN BERRY

MOSCOW (AP) — The head of French oil giant Total SA was killed at a Moscow airport when his corporate jet collided with a snowplow whose driver was drunk, Russian investigators said Tuesday.

Total confirmed "with deep regret and sadness" that Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died in the crash at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The three other people on board, all of them French crew members, also died when the French-made Dassault Falcon 50 hit the snowplow on takeoff at 11:57 p.m. Monday. The plane crashed onto the runway and burst into flames, investigators said.

The driver, who was not hurt, was operating the snowplow under the influence of alcohol, Tatyana Morozova, an official with the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency, told reporters at the airport. She said investigators are questioning the driver and also air traffic controllers and witnesses to the crash.

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this March 21, 2014 file photo, Total S.A. Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie makes a point as he speaks at the IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, USA. The CEO of French oil giant Total SA was killed when his corporate jet collided with a snow removal machine Monday night, Oct. 20, 2014, at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, the company said. Total "confirms with deep regret and sadness" that Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died in a private plane crash at the Moscow airport, the company said in a press release dated Tuesday, Oct. 21, and posted on its website.(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141021/eu--total_ceo_killed-0c96e6f193.html

[valerief]

1. A drunk Russian? Now, that's a shocker. nt

[Helen Borg]

2. I'm sure the devil is happy. Another soul comes to papa... Just saying...

[DetlefK]

3. Now Russia's alcohol-problem is officially legendary.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Monsieur Margerie, sir, you have a...you have a thing on your lip....

RIP, to the man who parts his mustache.

[madokie]

6. Then combs the thing sideways

RIP

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. What happens when you get drunk and kill Putin's friend with your snowplow?

What happens when you get drunk and kill Putin's friend with your snowplow?

by Geoffrey Smith @Geoffreytsmith October 21, 2014, 1:04 PM EDT

If there’s one person whose shoes you don’t want to be in right now, it’s Vladimir Martynenko.

Martynenko is the unlucky guy who happened to drive his snowplow across the runway as Total CEO Christophe de Margerie’s executive jet was preparing to take off from the VIP terminal at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport last night.

That would be enough to have on your conscience at the best of times. And it wouldn’t make you feel any better to think that you were drunk at the time.

But the real downer would be that you had just killed one of the closest and most influential friends of an authoritarian President with well-documented anger management problems and roots in one of the most brutal organizations ever to have graced the planet. That last consideration, I’m thinking, would probably be the one that occupied your thoughts the most while you sat out 48 hours of detention before seeing the magistrate.

[nomorenomore08]

7. Way to buck the stereotypes there...

[Sundome]

8. The drunk didn't get hurt while 4 people get killed. Typical.

[Strelnikov_]

9. Was his name Titus Pullo? n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. You take your life in your hands when you travel the Russian commercial aviation system.

This guy brought his own plane and crew and still ended up dead.

Sad. And so avoidable.