Steve Appleton Had A Love For Fast Airplanes, Aerobatics

ANN Real-Time Update, 02.03.12, 1711, ET: NTSB personnel are now reporting that Appleton's fatal flight lasted but a few minutes.

According to an investigator on site, preliminary details suggest that his Lancair departed at approximately 0854 Local/Mountain Time and climbed to an altitude estimated at between 100-200 feet before he requested a return to the field. Appleton provided no reason for his request but in the process of recovering back to KBOI, the aircraft reportedly banked and may have stalled before rolling into the ground at 0856 Local/Mountain Time.

Initial Report: ANN is working the details that are coming in from a fatal accident report that involved the CEO of Micron, Steve Appleton (51), at 1554 UTC.

The most recent details indicate that Appleton went down in Boise at the Boise International Airport in a Lancair IVP-Turboprop, N321LC, and was killed on impact. The NTSB has been dispatched to the accident site.

Current reports indicate that the aircraft went down between runways at the Boise International Airport (KBOI) and that a fire ensued, post-impact. The wreckage appears to have been fully consumed in the fire.

The NOAA NWS Accident Notification site reports that, "EXPERIMENTAL PLANE PILOTED BY MICRON CEO STEVE APPLETON CRASHED AT THE BOISE AIRPORT NEAR A RUNWAY. EARLIER REPORT THAT THE PLANE WAS ON FIRE BEFORE THE CRASH LANDING WAS NOT CORRECT ACCORDING TO THE FAA REPORT WE JUST RECEIVED."

The NOAA NWS report also notes that, "Weather did not play a factor in this accident."

A Micron spokesman has confirmed the accident, stating that, "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Appleton, Micron Chairman and CEO, passed away this morning in a small plane accident in Boise. He was 51. Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time. Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large. The company expects to provide additional information later today."

It was the second aircraft accident for Appleton, who went down in July of 2004 while executing a low-altitude loop in an Extra 300L.

The flight was being filmed and in the Probable Cause report, the NTSB noted that, "Approximately 2 seconds after passing in front of the cameras, the pilot initiated a "loop" maneuver by gently pulling the nose of the airplane up into a vertical climb attitude, continuing to the top of the maneuver until in an inverted position. The pilot continued the maneuver without interruption by descending on the back side of the loop. As the aircraft was approaching the bottom of the maneuver in a nose down attitude estimated to be approximately 20 degrees, at an altitude of less than 100 feet above ground level and in a wings level attitude, the airplane was observed to make a quick shallow left bank, followed by a second shallow bank to the right. The airplane's wings then returned to a level attitude momentarily before impacting flat open terrain with its right main landing gear and right wing tip. A subsequent dust cloud generated by the airplane's impact with terrain and a prevailing easterly wind, precluded any further observations of the post impact sequence."

Lancair IV-P TP (File Photo)

Appleton sustained a punctured lung, head injuries, ruptured disk and broken bones in the impact, but recovered.

Micron Technology, Inc., is a 'leading provider of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets a full range of DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory, as well as other innovative memory technologies, packaging solutions and semiconductor systems for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, embedded and mobile products.'

The Wall Street Journal reports that trading in Micron shares has been halted on the NASDAQ.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.micron.com