GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (BRAIN) — Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of French oil company Total, which also owned Hutchinson Tire, died Monday when a corporate plane crashed into a snow plough on a airport runway near Moscow prior to takeoff. According to news reports, all four people on the plane died as the plane was engulfed in flames. The BBC reports that the plough driver may have been intoxicated and was not seriously injured.
"It is terrible news and his leadership kindness and great sense of humor will be greatly missed by all," Hutchinson North America president and CEO Cedric Duclos told Hutchinson employees in an email Tuesday.
De Margerie, who was 63, had been chief executive of Total since 2007. The New York Times called him "one of the most powerful and colorful figures in the energy industry."
Total also confirmed the death on its website. "The thoughts of the management and employees of the Group go out to Christophe de Margerie's wife, children and loved ones as well as to the families of the three other victims," the company said.
