Snowplow Driver Was Drunk In Russian Plane Crash

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovA car drives past a sign reading "Vnukovo-3 Business Aviation Center", near Moscow's Vnukovo airport Oct. 21, 2014.

The CEO of French giant oil giant Total, 63-year-old Christophe de Margerie, died in a plane accident around midnight on Tuesday in Moscow when his plane crashed into a snowplow driver who was drunk, Russian investigators said.

De Margerie was in Russia attending a government meeting on foreign investment and headed back to Paris. Total is a top foreign investor in Russia.

The Falcon 50 plane crashed into a snow removal machine during takeoff at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

According to the AP: "The driver, who airport officials said was not hurt, was operating the snowplow under the influence of alcohol, said Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency."

The crash damaged the plane, so the pilot decided to turn around and land, Russia Today reported earlier.

The plane onto the runway in flames, killing everybody on board, including de Margerie and three French crew members.

De Margerie had been CEO of Total since 2007, and he was known by the nickname "Big Mustache" because of his curved mustache, Bloomberg reported. He headed up exploration and production before he was CEO.

Total is the third-largest oil company in Europe.