French billionaire MP Olivier Dassault dies in helicopter crash

French billionaire Olivier Dassault, a politician and scion of the Dassault aircraft-making family, was killed in a helicopter crash on March 7.

Dassault, 69 and a father-of-three, died around 6 pm (1700 GMT) when his helicopter crashed near the upmarket coastal resort of Deauville in northwest France, parliamentary and investigation sources told AFP.

French President Emmanuel Macron led tributes, saying in a tweet that "Olivier Dassault loved France. Captain of industry, local MP, reserve commander in the air force; throughout his life he never stopped serving our country".

Macron called his death "a great loss" and sent his condolences to the Dassault family, one of the most influential in France with interests spanning aeronautics, defence, auctioneering, wine and the media.

The Dassault Aviation group has been a leading French plane manufacturer for the last 70 years and is behind the Falcon private jet, the Mirage warplane, and most recently the state-of-the art Rafale fighter.

Forbes magazine estimated that Olivier Dassault was the 361st most wealthy person on the planet in 2020, with a fortune estimated at around five billion euros ($6 billion) -- around the same as his three siblings.

France's national air crash investigation agency, the BEA, said in a tweet that the crash had occurred shortly after take-off from "private grounds".

The weather in Deauville was sunny with low wind on March 7.

Sources close to the inquiry indicated that the pilot of the helicopter was also killed and that no-one else was on board.

An involuntary manslaughter investigation was opened by prosecutors.

The civil aviation Bureau of Investigations and Analysis said in a tweet that the helicopter, an...