imageMOSCOW: Russia has detained four Moscow airport employees over a plane crash which killed the head of French oil giant Total, whose private jet hit a snowplough on takeoff, investigators said Thursday.

Those detained include the air traffic controller in charge of directing the doomed plane at Vnukovo airport, her supervisor, the head of air traffic controllers and the chief of runway cleaning, Russia's investigative committee said in a statement.

"The investigation suggests that these people did not respect the norms of flight security and ground operations, which led to the tragedy," the statement said. "They have been detained as suspects."

Longtime Total boss Christophe de Margerie was killed along with the crew of his private jet in Monday night's accident.

The driver of the snowplough that collided with the plane has said he had lost his bearings and strayed on to the runway.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2014

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