Moscow - Investigators have officially indicted Vnukovo Airport air traffic controller Alexander Kruglov in a criminal case dealing with the crash of a Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft, which killed Total oil giant CEO Christophe de Margerie and three crewmembers, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Thursday, Oct. 30.
“The indictment has been presented for committing a crime covered by Russian Criminal Code Article 263 Part 3 (violation of aircraft safe operation rules involving the deaths of two or more people through carelessness). Kruglov has been questioned as a defendant,” Markin said.
Indictments will also be presented in the near future against other people suspected of playing a role in the crash, he said.
The investigation had indicted trainee air traffic controller Svetlana Krivsun in the same case on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The Investigative Committee had earlier detained Vnukovo airport chief airfield service engineer Vladimir Ledenev, flight operations officer Roman Dunayev, and snowplow driver Vladimir Martynenko.
It was reported earlier that a Falcon aircraft collided with a snowplow while taking off at Vnukovo in the early hours of Oct. 21. The crash killed four people on board the plane, including Total oil company CEO Christophe de Margerie.
A court ruled earlier to take Martynenko, Kruglov and Ledenev into custody and place Dunayev and Krivsun under house arrest. The investigation believes “Ledenev was in charge of the snow-clearing work and Dunayev, Krivsun and Kruglov of air traffic on the day of the crash.” All of them are suspected of “failing to ensure the observance of flight and ground work safety requirements, which led to the tragedy.”
