Pilot error blamed for the plane crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton

Sept. 09--Steve Appleton's best option when his high-performance airplane lost thrust over the Boise Airport on Feb. 3, 2012, was to return to the paved runway or land on the flat, packed surface beyond its end, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a final report issued Monday night.

Instead, the Micron CEO chose to take a sharp turn left in an attempt to return to where he had just taken off from, or to land on the adjacent runway. That maneuver caused the plane to spin and crash nose-down in dirt between the two runways.

The safety board found that a loss of engine power during the initial climb caused Appleton to abort the takeoff. Investigators were unable to determine why the plane lost thrust, however, because of impact damage and a post-crash fire that destroyed the engine and other components of the 2007 Lancair IV-TP.

Micron spokesman Dan Francisco declined to comment Tuesday on the report. Appleton's widow, Dalynn Appleton, could not be reached.

Didn't NTSB already share this report?

Not quite. In August, the board released its general findings from its investigation, but stopped short of concluding what caused the crash.

That release ruled out mechanical problems as a factor and laid the groundwork for Monday's probable cause report.

What other factors contributed to the crash?

The NTSB faulted Appleton for taking off minutes after aborting a previous departure, saying he knew there was a problem but didn't have the airplane checked out to determine the cause.

The board also found that Appleton lacked proper training in his airplane, which he bought just a month before the fatal crash. During that time, he logged less than 14 hours in the plane.

Because of the plane's complex flight systems, the Federal Aviation Administration said pilots likely need orientation and specialized training to safely fly the plane. In fact, such training is needed to insure the plane, a requirement that Appleton ignored, the NTSB said.

Were there warning signs?

"He had every warning in the world," said Bill Woods, owner of Western Wings Corp. in Roseburg, Ore., a flight instructor for 44 years. "He wasn't listening to all of the signs and sounds that his plane was giving him."

The aborted takeoff that day should have indicated something was wrong with the plane, said Woods, who reviewed the report for The Idaho Statesman. Appleton had also aborted a previous flight six days earlier, according to the NTSB.

A surge, then reduction in the flow of fuel during the fatal flight suggested the fuel system wasn't properly feeding the engine, said Woods, who has flown a Lancair three times and said it is a "handful" to control even under the best of circumstances.

What should Appleton have done?

The NTSB and Woods agree that Appleton should have continued flying straight ahead. He had 5,160 feet of paved runway ahead of him, along with the packed surface beyond that. Turning at low altitude and low speed can easily cause the plane to spin and crash, as it did in this case, Woods said.

"Had he just gone straight ahead, he would have likely lived," Woods said. "He had the position to get in."

John Sowell: 377-6423, Twitter: @IDS_Sowell

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