Many witnessed crash that killed Micron’s Steve Appleton

Micron CEO Steve Appleton died in a plane crash involving a small experimental single-engine Lancair plane similar to this plane. Photo courtesy of Lancair.

The plane crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton on the morning of Feb. 3 was observed by an array of witnesses, and that will help National Transportation Safety Board investigators in the coming weeks and months as they try to determine what happened.

NTSB got a call from the airport at about 9:15 am that a small plane had gone down at the Boise airport, said Zoe Keliher, an air safety investigator who works for the NTSB in Boise.

Keliher, who appeared at a news conference at the Boise Airport midday Feb. 3, said the runway appeared to be dry at the time of the crash. Winds were light, and there did not appear to be many birds, Keliher said.

She said several witnesses had common observations for investigators. They said they saw the aircraft do a steep bank turn and then stall and crash into the ground soon after takeoff.

Though there wasn’t evidence of bird problems, the time of the crash was the time of day when bird collisions are more common, Keliher said. Appleton didn’t file a flight plan, but the FAA doesn’t require one for experimental aircraft like the Lancair.

The plane had initially taken off briefly before the pilot called in to say he was landing, Keliher said. Then the pilot returned the plane to its hangar, and later took off again. The plane got 100 to 200 feet in the air before it crashed. There was no fire seen in the air, but there was a fire on the ground, Keliher said. Investigators found a wallet and some other personal effects with the body. The body was due to be identified through fingerprinting later Feb. 3.

Boise airport. Photo by Glenn Landberg.

But Micron spokesman Dan Francisco confirmed Appleton’s death. Trading in Micron Technology stock was halted several hours before the closing bell on Feb. 3.

The NTSB will look for mechanical system or structural problems with the fixed-wing single-engine Lancair, Keliher said.

“This is a high-performance plane with a lot of equipment,” Keliher said.

Appleton, 51, was a professional stunt plane pilot and had also raced automobiles. Appleton was seriously injured in a Boise-area stunt plane crash in July 2004.

He was known as a skilled pilot who flew in local air shows, said a Boise pilot who also flies a personal airplane out of the Boise Airport. He also flew a vintage Soviet-made MIG fighter jet that he kept at a hangar in Boise and another aerobatic plane.

“It’s a big deal,” said the pilot. “I don’t think any of us has any idea how big a deal it will be.”

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, whose father died in the crash of a small plane, expressed condolences at the news conference.

“In a very real sense, this to all of us feels like a loss of someone in our family,” Bieter said. Appleton “taught us the very best in the world can go on in Boise. He proved it.”

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