The chief executive of French oil giant Total has died after his corporate jet collided with a snow-removal machine at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport.
Officials said the collision occurred at midnight on October 20, killing Christophe de Margerie and three French crew members.
Investigators said the operator of the snow-removal machine was “in a drunk state."
The jet, headed for France, collided with the snow- removal machine during takeoff in thick fog.
Margerie, 63, had been chief executive of the world’s fifth-largest oil and gas firm since 2007.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin valued Margerie's business qualities as well as his "consistent devotion" to developing bilateral Russia-French relations.
WATCH: Russian Investigators Check Site Of Oil CEO's Plane Crash
Earlier this year, Margerie argued that Europe should maintain its energy relationship with Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine.
Total is one of the top foreign investors in Russia.
