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.