French billionaire and politician Olivier Dassault has died in a helicopter crash in Normandy. The 69-year-old right-wing MP was the grandson of Marcel Dassault, who founded the aircraft manufacturing company Dassault Aviation.
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Dassault, tweeting that he ‘loves France’. ‘As a business leader, MP, local councilor, a reserve commander in the air force, he never stopped serving our country all his life, to promote what was good about it. His cruel death is a great loss. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, ”Macron wrote.
The helicopter carrying Dassault took off shortly after 6pm on Sunday from the Normandy coastal resort of Deauville, where the tycoon had a holiday home. The cause of the accident in which the pilot also died is not immediately known.
The Dassault family boasts one of the greatest family fortunes in France. Olivier Dassault was the eldest of Serge Dassault’s four children; he inherited his father’s estate with his two younger siblings in 2018. He apparently had a personal fortune of about € 6 billion (£ 5.2 billion).
He was a keen photographer and since 2002 has been MP for the department of Oise in the north of France for the center-right Les Républicains (LR).
Damien Abad, president of the LR group in the French National Assembly, said Dassault was a man with “a big heart who was a big defender of the industry”. “His kindness and humanity will remain in our memory forever,” Abad tweeted.
The French Air Accident Investigation Board (BEA) reported that the plane, an Aerospace AS350 Écureuil, crashed from a private ground. The BEA has launched an investigation, saying it is sending five investigators to the scene.
French Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti wrote on Twitter that he was “extremely saddened” by the death. “The Republic has lost one of its great servants,” he said.