MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. The operator of the snowplow that caused the Falcon jet crash at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport late on Monday, was drunk, according to doctors’ certificate, the Basmanny court said on Thursday.

“According to preliminary examination data, [Vladimir] Martynenko was under alcoholic influence, the final results will be known within five or seven days,” Judge Natalya Dudar said.

The suspect’s lawyer Alexander Karabanov said the “preliminary examination” is absurd.

“These conclusions were made based on a visual check of Martynenko by the doctor after the crash, but why should we trust this, we can only trust the analysis findings, which we don’t have,” the lawyer said.

According to media reports, Martynenko, who emerged unhurt from the incident, was reportedly under alcoholic influence, while he himself acknowledged that he had a cup of coffee with cognac in it before his shift.

During the takeoff at Vnukovo airport on Monday night, the Dassault Falcon business jet, bound for Paris, collided with a snowplow, caught fire and fell onto the runway.

Among the four people killed in the crash are two pilots, a flight attendant and French oil giant Total CEO Christophe de Margerie. All the people killed in the crash were French nationals.