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Jet crash at Moscow airport

Commission completing field stage of investigation of Falcon crash in Vnukovo

The crew of the French Falcon jet that crashed in Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Monday night noticed the snowplough just 14 seconds before takeoff, a chief investigator said

© Sergey Sevastyanov/TASS

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MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. The commission is completing field stage of investigation of Falcon crash in Vnukovo that killed Total CEO Cristophe de Margerie, the International Aviation Committee said.

The crew of the French Falcon jet that crashed in Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Monday night noticed the snowplough just 14 seconds before takeoff, a chief investigator with the Interstate Aviation Committee said on Thursday. "In the following 14 seconds, the jet crashed with the snowplough," Alexey Morozov said.

A trainee air traffic controller supervised by instructor was guiding Falcon at Vnukovo before crash. All systems of Falcon jet were properly functioning until crash.

The collision of snowplow and Falcon jet occurred on intersection of runway strips, the commission said. Runway strip was free when takeoff authorization was given. Falcon's speed was about 250 km/h when it crashed with snowplough in Vnukovo airport.

The Interstate Aviation Committee has no immediate plans to publish records of exchanges between the pilots of the Falcon jet that crashed in Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and air traffic controllers, Sergey Zaiko, the first deputy chairman of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said on Thursday. “As for exchanges between pilots and air traffic controllers, we do not plan to do it in the nearest future,” he told a news conference.

“As of today the commission is completing the field stage of the investigation. All fragments of the jet have been collected on the crash site. They have been collected near the hangar and will be carried to the covered hangar tomorrow. Samples of lubricants have been conducted. A thorough examination of the fuselage, collected fragments and fuel will be conducted in the future,” he said.

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