Micron chief Steve Appleton dies in plane crash

Head of Iowa company that makes Crucial and Lexar products killed in crash of experimental plane just after takeoffSteve Appleton - the chief executive of Micron Technology, which makes products under the Lexar and Crucial brands - has died in the crash of an experimental plane he was piloting.The image that Appleton, 51, cultivated as a stunt pilot and off-road rally driver became the perfect metaphor for his wild, 18-year ride as the leader of the company, where stomach-churning swings from billion-dollar profit to billion-dollar loss required the constitution of a business daredevil to survive.Appleton died on Friday morning when his plane crashed at the Boise Airport, west of Micron's desert campus. The company one of the largest and most influential employers in the state of Idaho.Micron makes semiconductor chips for computers, mobile devices, cameras and other devices. In its latest fiscal year, which ended on 1 September, Micron earned $167m (£106m) and had revenue of $8.8bn.A