MOSCOW -- Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive officer of Total SA who helped establish the multinational oil company as one of the world's biggest, was killed at a Moscow airport when his private jet collided with a snowplow, the driver of which was accused of being drunk.
As well as questioning the driver, Russian investigators said Tuesday they were also assessing whether any mistakes were made by air traffic controllers in the crash, which also killed three French crew members.
The crash occurred at 11:57 p.m. Moscow time on Monday when the French-made Dassault Falcon 50 burst into flames upon hitting the snowplow during takeoff from Vnukovo airport, which is used by Russian government officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and visiting foreign leaders.
"We lost a true friend of our country," Putin said.
The driver of the snowplow, Vladimir Martynenko, is at the center of the investigation after allegations, denied by his lawyer, that he was drunk.
"At the current time, it has been established that the driver of the snowplow was in a state of alcoholic intoxication," Tatyana Morozova, an official with the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency.
De Margerie, 63, was a regular fixture at international economic gatherings and one of the French business community's most outspoken and recognizable figures.
A critic of sanctions against Russia, de Margerie argued that isolating Russia was bad for the global economy. He traveled regularly to Russia and recently dined in Paris with a Putin ally who is facing EU sanctions over Russia's involvement in the crisis in Ukraine.
Hollande expressed his "stupor and sadness" at the news and praised de Margerie for defending French industry on the global stage and for his "independent character and original personality."
De Margerie started working for Total in 1974 because it was close to home. It was a difficult time to join the firm, because an oil embargo, which led to a fourfold increase in prices, was drawing to an end.
"I was told, 'You have made the absolute worst choice. Total will disappear in a few months,'" he said in a 2007 interview with Le Monde newspaper.
De Margerie rose through the ranks, serving in several positions in the finance department and the exploration and production division before becoming president of Total's Middle East operations in 1995. He became a member of Total's policymaking executive committee in 1999 and CEO in 2007 before adding the post of chairman in 2010.
He was a central figure in Total's role in the United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq, which started in the mid-1990s to alleviate the pressure put on the country's people by sanctions imposed after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The program allowed Iraq to sell some oil in world markets in return for much-needed humanitarian needs, but it came under fire for widespread abuses.
Total, among others, was accused of breaching the terms of the program. Last year, the company and de Margerie were acquitted in France of corruption charges related to the program.
Under his leadership, Paris-based Total claims it became the fifth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company in the world, with exploration and production operations in more than 50 countries.
"In a big company like Total, where you have 100,000 employees worldwide, we are based in 130 offices, yet Christophe de Margerie managed to make a connection with all of us," said Khaled Yousuf, who works as a manager for affiliate relations at the Paris headquarters.
Jean-Jacques Guilbaud, Total's secretary-general, said the company will continue on its current path and that the board will meet in coming days to discuss who will succeed de Margerie.
Total also planned a minute of silence for its CEO in its offices worldwide.
Information for this article was contributed by Milos Krivokapic, Greg Keller, Iuliia Subbotovska, Vladimir Isachenkov and Angela Charlton of The Associated Press.
A Section on 10/22/2014