Moscow Airport Chief Resigns After Deadly Runway Crash

Tags:
2014-10-23

The director of a Moscow airport and his deputy have resigned following a plane crash earlier this week that killed four people, including the chairman of France energy company Total.

Vnukovo airport announced on its website Thursday that the departures of Andrei Dyakov and his number two, Sergei Solntsev, were connected to the crash.

The pair stepped down as Russian authorities detained four more airport workers in the case.

Among those being questioned is the engineer who oversaw snow-clearing on the runways on Monday, when the private jet hit a snow plow during take-off.

Total CEO Christophe de Margerie and three French crew members died.

Investigators allege that the plow driver was drunk on the job, but have not linked that to the cause of the crash.

In an emergency meeting Wednesday, Total's board of directors named Patrick Pouyanné, the company's head of refining and chemicals, as de Margerie's successor.

It also appointed Thierry Desmarest, a former Total CEO, as chairman of its board of directors.

Source: Voice of America

  • 284 reads