Micron CEO Dies In Plane Crash

KHQ News ^ | 2/3/12 | KHQ News

[illiac]

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Steve Appleton, the chief operating officer and chairman of Micron, has died in a small plane crash in Boise. He was 51.

Micron spokesman Dan Francisco confirmed Appleton's death Friday. Trading in Micron stocks has been halted.

[steve86]

Boise has long runways and there are stll some, not too many, empty fields south of I-84.

[reaganaut]

Yep and the young pilot who didn’t have night certification - Roger Peterson.

A sad tragedy that could have easily been prevented.

[Domandred]

Wonder what is off the end of the runway?

Depends on the direction he was going.

Going East there's some warehouse businesses, a Shopko distribution center, outlet mall.

Going West there's a lot of empty land intermixed with residential ranch houses with acreage.

Those are the runway directions. North of airport is town, South is all high mountain desert.

[Keith in Iowa]

“The Day the Music Died” - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The “Big Bopper.” February 3, 1959; Clear Lake, Iowa.

They're commemorating it and honoring them - with activities since Wednesday that will continue through the weekend...Local paper coverage

[fso301]

Too bad but the guy was something of a reckless sort known to hop in aircraft he had no prior experience with and take off in them.

[stubernx98]

I had an engine failure in a Bonanza I had just bought, 600 feet AGL out of Goodland Kansas, ended up in a corn field just some belly damage. 75% of folks lose an engine below 1000 feet stall and go stright in.

[CedarDave]

NTSB Press conference at this link:

http://www.ktvb.com/home/related/136957883.html

[Ramius]

This is a real shame.

I’m trying to recall exactly, but I’m pretty sure I met him some time back, probably 98 or 99. It was in one of the bars at the SFO airport, where I was a regular commuter for a while.

He was a really nice guy. Very bright and unpretentious. I was in IT management so we had a lot to talk about. He even invited me to come out to Idaho and see what they were up to. Sadly I never collected on that invitation.

[JPG]

When people are in a panic situation, in a building fire for example, they usually try to exit the same way they came in. Maybe the same kind of situation exists for many pilots; to try and turn around to the runway rather than a possibly safer ‘straight ahead’ approach.

[reaganaut]

I’m trying to convince my husband to take me next year, especially if they have a premier of the new movie then.

[wolficatZ]

"The Lancair is built from kits, and others like it have design characteristics that allow the planes to fly much faster than most small planes.

 

In 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety advisory to pilots because the planes are prone to stalling during slow-speed operations close to the ground.

 

An FAA analysis found that the planes have experienced fatal accident rates substantially higher than other small, personal use planes, including other types of planes made from kits, the advisory said. The advisory came after a Lancair plane killed a jogger on the beach in South Carolina."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[USNBandit]

John Denver was flying a long EZ.

In this picture you can see the airplane in its "parked" position with the nose gear folded. My understanding from a friend that flies one is that you start the airplane on a little primer tank when the nose is down and then when you lift the nose and unfold the nose wheel you are supposed to switch tanks. It is quite common for pilots to forget this step. What killed Denver was that the previous owner had moved the valve to a place you couldn't easily access when flying. Not to the design spec.

[rdcbn]

The Lancair IV is a very fast, high performance airplane.

The price you pay for this is a very high stall speed and an astronomical engine out sink rate of over 2000 feet per minute.

At 800 ft AGl on take off this gives less than 20 seconds to make a decision on a course of action, respond and then land the aircraft after an engine out on take off.

If you have an engine out in one on take off, it's probably better to land straight ahead and take your chances. Almost every attempt to turn back to runway to land after an engine out on take off that I am aware of has resulted in a stall-spin crash with subsequent post crash fatal fire.

Cruise speed of 300kts plus is cool but I am not a big fan of the Lancair IV given it's high stall speed and power off sink rates.

[Osage Orange]

Long-Eze...I think

[Osage Orange]

I'm not a pilot.

But your story made me think of something...

My youngest girl and her BF, and I went skydiving a couple three years ago.

We went up in this small single engine plane...Had a blast, and all were safe.

About 4 weeks later....the same pilot, and one of the dive instructors that we had..took off with some students...and had engine failure at around 6-7 hundred ft. He turned to the left, and landed in a small open area with a few buildings around..and of course telephone and power lines. Everyone survived.

Point being...he didn't try to go back to the landing strip. Smart guy...Lucky too.

[Erasmus]

Looks like the one in the front is PT-6 powered, unless Williams or Garrett makes a reverse-flow version also.

Having a turbine engine quit on you during takeoff or climb-out is much rarer than with a piston engine, isn’t it?

Was Appleton’s Lancair turbine powered?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

http://www.southparkstudios.co.uk/clips/sp_vid_152067/

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I heard he was trying to switch tanks, the control for which was over one shoulder, and accidentally gave too much rudder.

Correct. But, he ran out of gas because he didn't stick the tanks before take-off --pilot error.

Another little-known tidbit is that he had been convicted of drunk-driving the year before and as is usually the case, had been ordered by the FAA to surrender his medical certificate. (one half of a pilot's license, the other being the airman's certificate)

This means that at the time of his fatal accident he had been grounded and was flying illegally.

The accident report is online if you're interested in reading the details. (See: Close-Up: The John Denver Crash)

[dr_lew]

Based on the news photo of the crash and the Google Maps view, it looks like he was taking off on 10L or 10R and just stalled and dropped near the end of the runway. I’m going by sun angle and background, although I wasn’t able to match the background exactly. In particular I couldn’t find that dome.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.