The CEO of one of the six biggest oil companies in the world died in a runway plane crash in Moscow Monday.

Authorities said Christophe de Margerie, chief executive officer of Total SA, was killed when a business jet collided with a snow plow during takeoff at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport, Reuters reported.

The jet was due in Paris, and all on board including the crew died. No information on how the accident was caused is available.

The airport is one of Moscow's oldest and is the third largest, often used by government officials as well as the president Vladimir Putin.

De Margerie, 63, was listed as an attendee at a meeting on foreign investment with government officials near Moscow.

Putin said in a statement, according to Al-Jazeera, that de Margerie was "an outstanding French entrepreneur who originated many major joint projects that formed the basis of many years of fruitful cooperation between Russia and France in the energy sector. In Christophe de Margerie, we lost a real friend of our country, whom we will remember with the greatest warmth."

He was famous for his bushy, big moustache and even nicknamed for it. He was one of the most recognizable figures among oil executives.

Total is France's second largest business with a market value of 102 billion euros.

 "France is losing an extraordinary business leader who turned Total into a world giant," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement, Reuters reported. "France is losing a great industry captain and a patriot."

The crash occurred just after 10 p.m. Paris time, or about midnight in Moscow.

Authorities released preliminary information, but the incident is still under investigation.

The black boxes have been removed for further investigation. Authorities said the driver of the snow plow was drunk.

Share for the company were affected soon after the news spread Tuesday morning but have since stabilized.