French billionaire politician Olivier Dassault killed in helicopter crash

[webfact]

French billionaire politician Olivier Dassault killed in helicopter crash

 

FILE PHOTO: French politician Olivier Dassault arrives for the screening of the film "Drive" during the 37th American Film Festival in Deauville September 3, 2011. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

 

PARIS (Reuters) - French billionaire Olivier Dassault was killed on Sunday in a helicopter crash, a police source said, with President Emmanuel Macron paying tribute to the 69-year old conservative politician.

 

Dassault was the eldest son of late French billionaire industrialist Serge Dassault, whose namesake Dassault Aviation, builds the Rafale war planes and owns Le Figaro newspaper.

 

"Olivier Dassault loved France. Captain of industry, lawmaker, local elected official, reserve commander in the air force: during his life, he never ceased to serve our country, to value its assets. His sudden death is a great loss. Thoughts on his family and loved ones," Macron said on Twitter.

 

The private helicopter crashed on Sunday afternoon in Normandy, where he has a holiday home, according to a police source. The pilot was also killed.

 

A lawmaker for the conservative Les Republicains party since 2002, Dassault was considered the 361st richest man in the world alongside his two brothers and sister, with wealth of about 6 billion euros ($7.15 billion) mostly inherited from his father, according to the 2020 Forbes rich list.

 

He stepped down from his role on the board of Dassault due to his political role to avoid any conflict of interest.

 

Olivier, seen as the favourite of founder Marcel, was once considered favoured to succeed Serge at the head of the family holding, but that role went to former Dassault Aviation CEO Charles Edelstenne.

 

"Great sadness at the news of the sudden passing of Olivier Dassault," Valerie Pecresse, a conservative politician who is president of the Paris region, said on Twitter.

 

"A businessman, but also a renowned photographer, he had a passion for politics in his blood, rooted in his department of Oise. My warm thoughts to his family."

 

($1 = 0.8393 euros)

 

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Paris Newsroom; Editing by William Maclean, Catherine Evans and Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-08

 

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[Tug]

To bad sounded like a gifted moral dude my condolences to the bereaved 

[onebir]

Quote

Helicopters are more dangerous, according to data from the federal government, with a fatal accident rate of 0.72 per 100,000 flight hours in 2018. [cf 0.006 for commercial flights, ie helicopters are 120x more dangerous]

...

... personal or private helicopter flights are responsible for a disproportionate number of fatal helicopter accidents. Personal or private rides account for just 3% of flight hours but more than a quarter of fatal accidents. [ie private helicopter flights are another ~8.3x more dangerous again = ~1000x more dangerous than commercial flights]

 

Life's too long... apparently.

[impulse]

2 hours ago, onebir said:

Quote

Helicopters are more dangerous, according to data from the federal government, with a fatal accident rate of 0.72 per 100,000 flight hours in 2018. [cf 0.006 for commercial flights, ie helicopters are 120x more dangerous]

...

... personal or private helicopter flights are responsible for a disproportionate number of fatal helicopter accidents. Personal or private rides account for just 3% of flight hours but more than a quarter of fatal accidents. [ie private helicopter flights are another ~8.3x more dangerous again = ~1000x more dangerous than commercial flights]

 

Life's too long... apparently.

 

Maybe more dangerous than a commercial flight, but if you tack on the car ride on each end of a commercial flight, I wonder if it's safer to fly a helicopter point to point? 

 

It's certainly faster than the road.  Probably safer per km traveled, too.

 

I'd add that we had helicopters and corporate jets with more safety equipment and as good a safety record as any commercial airline.  But the fly-by-nights cause enough carnage to drag all the safety stats down for general aviation. 

 

I suspect he didn't fly with Econo Choppers.

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by impulse

[Thingamabob]

We are all at death's door, rich or poor. 

 

 

[spidermike007]

In terms of the safety of helicopter flying, I was curious. Apparently alot safer than a car. Especially here. 

 

The answer, based on a TPG analysis of a decade of safety data: Like almost every other mode of transportation, flying in a helicopter is considerably more dangerous than airline travel. But it’s far safer than riding in a car. Helicopter travel is, using our metric, slightly more dangerous than mass transit, but we can broadly say they’re in the same safety band.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/are-helicopters-safe-how-they-stack-up-against-planes-cars-and-trains/

[PETERTHEEATER]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Thoughts on his family and loved ones," Macron said on Twitter.

Another insincere  hackneyed phrase beloved of politicians.....