Christophe de Margerie's plane was trying to take off at Vnukovo airport, as Dmitry Medvedenko, from the Voice of Russia radio station, reports
Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of French oil company Total, has died in an air crash in Moscow.
Airport spokeswoman Elena Krylova said: "Tonight, a plane crashed when it collided with a snow-clearing machine. Three crew members and a passenger died."
"I can confirm that the passenger was Total's head de Margerie," she said.
Mr de Margerie, 63, had been chief executive of Europe's third largest oil company since 2007.
The collision happened as Mr de Margerie's private jet was trying to take off at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
Russia's emergencies ministry said in a statement the accident had involved a Falcon-50 plane shortly before midnight local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday.
The jet had been due to fly to Paris. The three crew members were all French.
Reports say the visibility at airport was 350m (1,150ft).
An investigation is now under way.
'Huge loss'
The Total executive was highly regarded within the oil industry. At the company, where he had spent his entire career, he was nicknamed "Big Moustache".
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