Micron CEO Steve Appleton Dies in a Plane Crash
by Kristian Vättö on February 4, 2012 1:12 PM ESTMicron's long time CEO, Steve Appleton, has died in a plane crash at the age of 51 at the Boise Airport on Friday morning. He was reportedly flying a single-engine Lancair plane, which stalled and then nosedived shortly after take-off. Appleton was the only person onboard and died immediately upon impact.
Appleton started working at Micron in 1983 and became the CEO eleven years later in 1994. Micron is most known for storage solutions, such as NAND flash. Intel's and Micron's joint NAND venture, IMFT, is one of the leading NAND manufacturers, and consumers may also be familiar with Micron's subdiary Crucial, a well known SSD and RAM brand. Flying was always Appleton's passion and he owned over 20 airplanes. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
R.I.P. Steve Appleton, 1960-2012
Source: KTVB
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T2k - Saturday, February 4, 2012 - link
...as these kit planes are crazy dangerous and this particular model was worse than average: http://www.ktvb.com/home/FAA-issued-safety-warning...Skott - Sunday, February 5, 2012 - link
Kit plane or factory built when a single engine plane loses power they drop like a rock. Chances of survival is pretty much zero when you fall from a couple hundred feet or more onto hard ground. We'll have to wait for the official report to find out what exactly happened. Condolences to his family.dqniel - Monday, February 6, 2012 - link
Not all of them.jcourtney - Monday, February 6, 2012 - link
FWIW this information is vastly inaccurate. Yes, the particular model of "experimental" kit aircraft Mr. Appleton was flying was a very high performance and less forgiving model which would present additional challenges to a pilot in a loss-of-power situation. That said, Mr. Appleton was an accomplished pilot and understood the risks. Most light aircraft actually glide quite well and well trained pilots who make good decisions about flying over inhospitable terrain, water, at night, etc. have reasonable chances of survival. Piloting a light aircraft has inherent risk and I'd be lying to myself and to you to deny that but for many it is an acceptable risk more than made up for by the remarkable opportunities it provides. I count myself and those like me who get to own and operate light aircraft as remarkably lucky and the airspace system in the US is unique and the most accessible in the world. We have a remarkable country to be seen from the air and I hope you and the other readers wouldn't be shy about taking any opportunities to go flying in a light aircraft with a trusted and appropriately experienced pilot.EddyKilowatt - Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - link
Okay... my friend with a 172 invites me to fly up to his weekend place in the next state. How do I determine "trusted and appropriately experienced" in a diplomatic way?I've driven with him a few times but other than that have no insight into how diligent a pilot he is nor how carefully his plane is maintained.
etamin - Saturday, February 4, 2012 - link
but I think Micron as a company will pull through this. INTC fell less than 1% after MU trading halted on Friday and MU leveled off at -2% after hours. NAND demand has risen in the wake of the Thailand floods and IMFT is also the first to 20nm 128Gb NAND (press release Dec 2011).Glenn - Sunday, February 5, 2012 - link
Steve started working for Micron in 1983 on the production floor right out of college with his business degree. I worked with him briefly two years later (he was my supervisor) in Fab 2 at Micron. He was a very capable hard charger, hard worker, and a genuinely nice guy. He rose through the ranks to CEO based on his own performance and abilities. No silver spoons involved. He remained that same regular type guy till yesterday. This is a huge loss for his Family, Friends, Micron, Boise, Boise State University and all of Idaho.He loved flying and owned probably 50 different planes over the years. He was an active aerobatic pilot and preformed passionately at many airshows on his time off. In fact the last time I saw and spoke with him was at an Air Show about 6-7 years ago. He was still the same Steve I knew in 1985, and staying that way was very important to him. He was well respected not for his title but for who he was. Great Guy! RIP!
MamiyaOtaru - Monday, February 6, 2012 - link
RIP Steve Appleyyrkoon - Monday, February 6, 2012 - link
Not knowing M.R. Appleton personally, I had come to respect Micron as a company. Let us hope in his absence, the company continues to operate as well, with the same values.. As I am sure M.R. Appleton was largely responsible for both of these.Rest in Peace M.R. Appleton.
doscape - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
to see that kind of news