French billionaire and politician Olivier Dassault was killed in a helicopter crash in Normandy. The 69-year-old right-wing MP was the grandson of Marcel Dassault, who founded the aircraft construction company Dassault Aviation.
French President, Emmanuel Macron, paid tribute to Dassault by tweeting that he “loved France”. “As a business leader, member of parliament, city councilor, air force reserve commander, he never stopped serving our country all his life, promoting what was great about it. His brutal death is a great loss. Our thoughts go to his family and his friends, ”Macron wrote.
The helicopter carrying Dassault crashed shortly after take-off from the Normandy coastal town of Deauville, where the tycoon had a holiday home, at about 6pm on Sunday. The cause of the crash, in which the pilot was killed, was not immediately known.
The Dassault family has one of the largest family fortunes in France. Olivier Dassault was the eldest of Serge Dassault’s four children; he inherited his father’s estate along with his two younger siblings in 2018. He is reported to have had a personal fortune of approximately € 6 billion (£ 5.2 billion).
An avid photographer, he had served as Member of Parliament for the Oise Department in Northern France for center-right Les Républicains (LR) since 2002.
Damien Abad, chairman of the LR group in the French National Assembly, said Dassault was a man of “big heart who was a great defender of the industry”. “His kindness and humanity will remain in our memories forever,” tweeted Abad.
The French Air Accident Investigation Agency (BEA) reported that the aircraft, an Aérospatiale AS350 Écureuil, crashed from private land while taking off. The BEA has opened an investigation and said it sent five investigators to the scene.
French Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti wrote on Twitter that he was “extremely sad” by the death. “The Republic has lost one of its great servants,” he said.