Vnukovo plane crash: Snowplow driver drunk in collision with Total CEO's aircraf

Thought about starting this thread just in case this crash is more than just human error of a drunk snowplow driver.

Here are two SOTT articles that talk about it:
http://www.sott.net/article/287693-Moscows-Vnukovo-plane-crash-Snowplow-driver-drunk-in-collision-with-Total-CEOs-aircraft
http://www.sott.net/article/287688-French-oil-CEO-dies-in-plane-crash-at-Moscows-Vnukovo-Airport

And even it is only due to human error, his death is still rather symbolic considering what he said here:

Oil major Total's chief executive said on Saturday the euro should have a bigger role in international trade although it was not possible to do without the U.S. dollar.

Christophe de Margerie was responding to questions about calls by French policymakers to find ways at EU level to bolster the use of the euro in international business following a record U.S. fine for BNP.
...
"There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars," he said. He said the fact that oil prices are quoted in dollars per barrel did not mean that payments actually had to be made in that currency.

Bye bye petrodollar! French CEO of one of the world's largest energy majors "sees no reason for petrodollar"

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Well, the lawyer of the snowplow driver claims (article in Russian), that he was sober and in fact doesn't drink at all.

Yeah, I saw these stories this morning. It is very curious, but probably too soon to tell if it was something other than an accident. We'll see if more information comes out....

SeekinTruth said:

Yeah, I saw these stories this morning. It is very curious, but probably too soon to tell if it was something other than an accident. We'll see if more information comes out....

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Well, as usual, SOTT has the real scoop. ;) Take a look at the latest update and comments at the bottom.
http://www.sott.net/article/287688-French-oil-CEO-dies-in-plane-crash-at-Moscows-Vnukovo-Airport

Right now heard an update on Russia 24, and they indeed say that he was one of Russia's biggest friends and supporters, also noted that the snowplow driver wasn't drunk. The investigators look into 4 main theories. 1) traffic controllers are to blame 2) snowplow driver is to blame 3) poor weather conditions 4) pilot's error

It's so weird, but only a week ago one of my relatives heard from his colleague and told me about a very similar crash: Flight 3352 hit a maintenance vehicle in Siberia in October 1984.

From Wikipedia:

Aeroflot Flight 3352 was a Tupolev Tu-154 airline flight on a domestic route from Krasnodar to Novosibirsk, with an intermediate landing in Omsk. While landing at Omsk Airport on Thursday, October 11, 1984, the aircraft crashed into maintenance vehicles on the runway, killing 174 people on board and 4 on the ground. While a chain of mistakes in airport operations contributed to the accident, its major cause was an air traffic controller falling asleep on duty. As of 2013, this remains the deadliest aviation accident in Russian territory.

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It may be just a coincidence, but it's so unusual that one week ago we were discussing that accident and now almost the same scenario repeated.

There is an article in Russian on one of the news analysis sites about De Margerie's death, and it has some interesting facts regarding the accident. All those facts come from witnesses and from forums of the airport workers and flight controllers.

- Apparently the plane was already in the air when it touched the snowplow car with one of its wheels.
- A witness, who worked in the area at that time first heard a loud pop, turned around and saw the plane falling and exploding. The explosion was very strong.
- They also mention various strangeness and inconsistencies regarding the accident, including asking the question: "why there was a snowplow car there at all, when it was night, a thick fog and no snow at all?"

Then they talk about De Margerie's dealings with Russia, how he was against sanctions, etc. They openly mention that US had a great interest in removing him, and it's quite possible that something like this was done, especially since Russia's Investigative Committee says, that the accident happened due to criminal connivance of the airport officials, who didn't provide proper coordination between various airport workers.

They also said, that if Patrick Pouyanne will be elected to lead Total (and apparently he was elected), then the chances are high that he will continue with the same policy toward Russia.