The driver of the snowplow that the plane crashed into in Vnukovo was drunk. This was stated by the official representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia Vladimir Markin. BizavNews project manager Dmitry Petrochenko discussed the situation with presenter Natalya Zhdanova.

The Falcon 50 crashed on takeoff after colliding with a snowplow. Three crew members and one passenger, the head of the oil and gas company Total, Christophe de Margerie, were killed. After colliding with a snowplow, the plane caught fire. Special services are at the scene and an investigation into the incident has begun.

— Now the investigation has two versions of the plane crash in Vnukovo: a dispatcher error and the actions of the snowplow driver. Which one do you think is most likely? And does this nature of the incident really speak to the human factor?

— You know, I would not give any comments on this topic until the official publication of at least the preliminary results of the investigation.

— So you would like not to talk about versions at all now?

- Of course, this is a thankless task. There are professionals, I think they will sort it out.

- Yes, sure. Tell me, in general, as a rule, these are the directions in which investigations are carried out, and what is studied first?

— First of all, if this can be called good news, “black boxes” have been found. Accordingly, the investigators will at least have a transcript of the conversations and a decoding of the operation of all aircraft systems, so the time for the investigation will, of course, be reduced.

- So, what else besides “black boxes”?

- Well, in addition to the “black boxes”, of course, the investigative authorities will interview all participants in the process, that is, from the preparation of the flight, the dispatchers who controlled the plane, both on the taxiway, and those who, accordingly, gave permission for takeoff. After this, we will have a complete picture, a preliminary, not even a complete, but a preliminary picture of what could have happened, what was the real cause of the disaster.

— Yes, now it is reported that technical documentation has been confiscated, and, in my opinion, they are even planning to do a fuel analysis. Can these arguments indicate anything at all?

- Well, you know, I think that there were no problems with fuel, because Vnukovo airport is the largest in Russia, fuel control is carried out at the highest level, I think that the fuel factor will not be confirmed here.

— Dmitry Aleksandrovich, as a rule, how long do investigations into such incidents last and how long does it take to decipher the “black boxes”?

— In general, it depends on the specific case, I think that within 3-4 months some preliminary data may appear, but, as a rule, disasters are still investigated for up to a year.

— Do you generally know how the airport’s technical services interact with air traffic controllers, how could this snowplow even end up on the runway during takeoff?

— You know, I think that the best comment will be given to you by the press service of Vnukovo airport.

- Yes, that is, in principle, you don’t know how this happens, right? That is, this is controlled by dispatchers in any case?

“I believe that the airport’s press service should still give a more complete and voluminous comment.”

- Yes, I see, tell me, can foreign specialists, French, be allowed to participate in the investigation in this case? There were also French citizens there?

— Yes, it is quite possible that in this case this is exactly what they will do at the insistence of the French side.

— What kind of reaction can we generally expect from the French side? Can we even talk about some kind of international scandal?

— No, I think that our French colleagues understand very well that this is nothing more than force majeure.

“After interviewing all participants in the process, we will have a preliminary picture of what happened.”