BOISE, Idaho (AP)—Micron Technology Chairman Steve Appleton was injured Thursday evening when his stunt plane crashed in the desert east of Boise, Ada County authorities said.
Appleton was flying with Micron employee Michael Duffy about 6:15 p.m. when the plane crashed south of the state prison complex.
Company officials said Duffy was photographing Appleton for an upcoming corporate presentation.
Sheriffs officers said Appleton suffered head and back injuries, and Duffy also was injured. They were flown to a Boise hospital.
“Both Michael and Steve are lucid, coherent and up and about,” Micron spokesman Dave Parker said Thursday night. “They were getting around under their own power, but were medivaced to a Boise hospital.”
“They both essentially walked away from it, which is good,” said Nancy Corey, operations officer for the Federal Aviation Administration.
“They were doing aerobatics,” Corey said. “We dont know what happened. We lost radar contact on them. The FAA is on the scene right now and will continue the investigation along with the National Transportation Safety Board.”
Micron Technology, which manufactures computer memory chips and other electronic products, is the states largest private employer.
Duffy is a member of the companys creative services group and was filming Appleton for an upcoming semiconductor chip presentation, Parker said.
The plane in the accident was an Extra 300L, a single-engine, two-passenger craft. Appleton also has two Hawker Hunter jets, a Cessna jet and a Stearman biplane. He participates annually in a number of air shows in the Northwest, including one at Mountain Home Air Force Base 40 miles east of Boise.
Appleton holds a special pilots rating allowing him to fly stunts in a plane capable of pulling more than 12 Gs.