Industry deputy and captain Olivier Dassault, son of Serge Dassault, died Sunday evening at the age of 69 in his helicopter crash in Tok near Deauville in Calvados, causing grief and stunned French political class.
Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the LR Vice President who died in the crash just like the pilot. Olivier Dassault loved France. Industry captain, deputy, local team, reserve commander in the Air Force: All his life, he never stopped serving our country, to consolidate his assets. His sudden death is a great loss, “the head of state tweeted.
Sources close to the investigation said that the accident occurred at take-off around 6 pm in Tok, 5 km east of Deauville. Likewise, there was no one else on board the helicopter.
We are opening a judicial investigation into a manslaughter. I’m on site, it’s dark. Technical investigations will not begin until tomorrow. Confirming the death of Mr. Dassault and the pilot, Delphine Minnell, the Lyseo attorney general, told AFP, “We are moving forward with the work on corpses.”
Investigators from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis will be on site on Monday. The British Aviation Agency said in a tweet on Twitter that the aircraft, an Aérospatiale AS350 Écureuil, had crashed “on takeoff” and had been transported “from private land”.
An AFP photographer at the site indicated that a security perimeter had been set up around the body of the device.
Photo by Samir Al-Doumi, told AFP
Emergency services were at the scene, in Tok, near Deauville on the coast of Normandy.
Olivier Dassault was the father of three children.
Immediately, many political figures paid tribute to the son of Serge Dassault and the grandson of Marcel Dassault, who was one of France’s greatest fortunes.
Prime Minister Jean Castex praised “the humanitarian deputy, the visionary businessman, the man deeply committed to his country and the artist with elegant boldness.”
National Assembly President Richard Ferrand responded: “I think of his family and loved ones who must be in terrible pain.” His counterpart in the Senate, Gerard Laricher, said he was “deeply moved by the sudden disappearance” of “a well-known businessman, energetic and committed MP.”
361H World wealth
Many other personalities from across the political spectrum expressed their surprise and sorrow. “Our region is losing a great servant,” tweeted Xavier Bertrand, president (formerly of LR) at Hauts-de-France.
LR’s Vice President, Damianabad, praised the “Outstanding Business Leader, Great Deputy and Great Defender of the Industry” whose “kindness and humanity will remain in our memories forever”.
the magazine Forbes Olivier Dassault ranked 361H Global fortune in 2020, tied with his two brothers and sister at about 5 billion euros each.
After the death of his grandfather Marcel Dassault in 1986, his father Serge appointed him deputy director of European Falcon Service and director of civil aircraft strategy for Dassault Aviation, to manufacture Rafale combat aircraft and Falcon business jets.
In 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dassault Group, which put him in a good position to take over the family business one day.
But after seven years, a few months before his father’s death, he announced to France Press his decision to resign from chairing the Supervisory Board of the Family Holding Company “due to the inconsistency of his mandate as a deputy.”
However, his tenure as Director of Dassault Aviation was renewed for four years in May 2019.
Olivier Dassault has been a member of Oise since 2002.
“I’m in shock. Today, I lose a friend,” replied the mayor of Beauvais, Caroline Caillou, who was still with him last Friday when Prime Minister Jean Castex came to Beauvais.
“Evil thinker. Music scholar. Hipster-friendly communicator. Bacon geek. Amateur internet enthusiast. Introvert.”