French oil CEO dies in plane crash at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport

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The CEO of France's oil and gas giant Total, Christophe de Margerie, was reportedly among five people killed in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the aircraft hit a snowplow on take-off.

Total's chairman and CEO was the only passenger in the Falcon 50 business jet besides three crewmembers, LifeNews cited a source as saying. Another source confirmed to TASS that de Margerie was the only passenger who checked in for the private flight to Paris, adding that the 3 crewmembers were also French citizens.

Total has so far not confirmed the reports of its CEO's death. "To date, I have no information that I could tell you. When and if it appears, you can get it from the press secretary or read the communiqué," a representative of the company told RIA Novosti.

CEO of France's Total dies in jet crash at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport - report http://t.co/AWNpuaAuCqhttp://ift.tt/ZDvU8V

- RT (@RT_com) October 20, 2014

During take-off at around 0:10am Moscow time on Tuesday, the light aircraft, according to preliminary data, hit a snow-clearing machine with its landing gear. Due to the damage, the pilot reportedly decided to turn back and land.

While still in the air, the plane was sending distress signals and reporting an engine fire and fuselage damage, LifeNews reports. Upon crashing on the runway, the aircraft was immediately engulfed in flames, killing everyone on board.

Debris from the aircraft was scattered up to 200 meters from the crash site, according to the rescue services. The engine was found some 50 meters from the crash site, while one of the landing gears was ripped off and discovered nearly 200 meters from the main mass of debris.

Vnukovo Airport temporarily suspended all flights following the incident, but by 2 am all operations were restored. While initials reports suggested four people died in the tragedy, officials report that five bodies were found at the crash site, one allegedly being the driver of the snow-cleaning vehicle.

"A criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations after a light aircraft crash in the capital's Vnukovo airport," transport official Tatyana Morozova told RIA.

An investigative group is working at the crash site, Morozova added. In addition to people who were on board the plane, she said, the driver snowplow was killed.

DEVELOPING: Passenger of crashed plane was head of French oil company - reports http://t.co/AWNpuaAuCqhttp://ift.tt/10ftIG6

- RT (@RT_com) October 20, 2014

Earlier in the day, due to bad weather conditions at least 18 planes were diverted from Vnukovo to other Moscow airports, Itar-tass reported siting a source at Vnukovo. Flights landing at Moscow airhubs operate "on factual weather" conditions, meaning that a crew commander decide themselves about the possibility of landing at the destination or preceding to alternative landing routes at the capital

Some 12 planes have been received by Domodedovo airport while 6 landed at Sheremetyevo as dense fog and winter weather conditions make landing difficult. According to the source, 80 percent of the diverted races were private business jets.

De Margerie, 63, joined Total in 1974 after graduating from the École Supérieure de Commerce in Paris. He served in several positions in the Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. In 1995, he became President of Total Middle East before joining the Total's Executive Committee as the President of the Exploration & Production division in May 1999. In May 2006, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total on May 21, 2010.

Despite Western-imposed sanctions on Russia that prohibit western financing and technology transfer to some Russian energy projects, Total is continuing to pursue a natural gas project in Yamal, a joint venture with Russia's Novatek and China's CNPC.

"Can we live without Russian gas in Europe? The answer is no. Are there any reasons to live without it? I think - and I'm not defending the interests of Total in Russia - it is a no," the Total boss told Reuters back in summer.

Meanwhile, another Total project, with Russia's sanctions-hit Lukoil, is "definitely stopped," de Margerie said in September, but since the project had not started it did not have "any impact" on Total, he told the Financial Times.