MOSCOW (Sputnik) — De Margerie was the only passenger on board the aircraft. Three French crew members also died in the crash.
"The investigation is completed in the criminal case initiated over the disaster involving a French Falcon 50ЕХ aircraft on October 20, 2014, at Vnukovo Airport, that resulted in the deaths of three crew members and one passenger, head of oil and gas company Total Christophe de Margerie," the committee said in a statement.
The plane, which was scheduled to fly to Paris, crashed during take-off after colliding with a snow machine that was being operated by driver Vladimir Martynenko in violation of the runway rules due to the absence of oversight by senior shift engineer Vladimir Ledenev, the head of the investigative committee, Vladimir Markin, said.
Markin also noted that violations of aviation regulations on the part of the air-traffic controllers on duty had also contributed to the crash. They failed to inform the pilots about the snowplow approaching the runaway, which could have helped the pilots to avoid the collision.
