Quote:One of Russia's richest women - airline tycoon Natalia Fileva worth more than £500MILLION - is killed as her private jet crashes and explodes in Germany

• Natalia Fileva was on board a six-seater aircraft which crashed near Frankfurt
  
• The 55-year-old was co-owner of S7 Airlines, Russia's largest domestic carrier 
  
• Another two people died in a collision with a police car responding to the crash
  
  

One of Russia's richest women has died in a light aircraft crash in Germany. 

Airline tycoon Natalia Fileva, 55, the co-owner of Russian carrier S7, was on board a six-seater plane which crashed and exploded near Frankfurt today.   
German police said there appeared to be three people on board the plane, including the pilot of the flight, which originated in France. 
Two more people are believed to have died in a collision with a police vehicle which was responding to the scene.  

Business publication Forbes.ru estimated Ms Fileva's fortune at $600million (£460million), calling her Russia's fourth-richest woman.   

Her airline confirmed that Ms Fileva was on board the single-engine, six-seater Epic-LT aircraft when it crashed. 
According to state-owned publication Russia Beyond, she and her husband Vladislav Filev have owned the company since the 1990s.  

She was said to be the head of S7's board of directors, helping to make it Russia's largest domestic airline and a competitor to flag carrier Aeroflot. 

'S7 Group team extends sincere and heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Fileva's family and loved ones,' the company said in a statement. 

'The memory of her as an inspiring and sympathetic leader and a wonderful person will forever stay in the hearts of all S7 Group employees. It is an irreparable loss.'

Reports in Germany said Ms Fileva's father might also have been on board the plane, citing Russian media. 
German police said the bodies were burned up in the crash and resulting fire, saying identification would take place over the coming week.  

Based at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, S7 is part of the Oneworld alliance and flies to 150 destinations in 35 countries.

Police said the six-seater airplane took off in France and was on its way to the central German town of Egelsbach. 
It crashed and burned in an asparagus field near Erzhausen, six miles south of Frankfurt, at around 3.30pm.  

The tragedy was compounded when a police car carrying two officers to the crash site collided with two further vehicles on the way. 
The second vehicle, an Opel car, was carrying two young people who died in the crash while the police officers were seriously injured. 
The victims of the car accident were a 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, police said.

German officials said the cause of the plane crash was still unknown, saying the aircraft had completely burned out. 
They said the two passengers were believed to be Russian citizens but that positive identification of the occupants would require further investigation.

(04-01-2019, 01:17 PM)Wallfire Wrote: Why would someone worth 500million euro use such an aircraft ???. Also I found this info in a Russian news paper ( English version)

"In December she spoke against inviting officials to investment forums.

'They don’t do business, they are not real people,' she said. 
'You are talking about fighting corruption, and I want to ask where they get money for their suits and shoes? 
‘Everyone of them has a suit which costs at least $1000.’"
source