Amid its testing times, resulting from sluggish sales of computers and declining prices, memory chip maker Micron Technology received yet another big blow on Friday, when its chairman and CEO Steve Appleton died in a plane crash at an airport in Boise, Idaho.

The sudden and tragic death of 51-year-old Appleton is a major loss for the Idaho-based Micron Technology; more so because it comes at a time when the company, as well as the semiconductor industry as a whole, is undergoing a phase of rapid change.

According to reports, Appleton, who was deft at performing stunts at air shows, lost his life when the small plane - a single-engine Lancair -which he was piloting crashed at the Boise airport.

Appleton, was one of the most well-known personalities in the closely-knit semiconductor industry, had reportedly taken off and landed the plane once; and it was during the course of the plane’s second take off that the crash happened.

The unfortunate accident – which is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, brings in Mark Durcan - Micron’s president and chief operating officer due for retirement in August – at the helm of the Micron affairs, till the time the board appoints a permanent successor to Appleton.

Meanwhile, describing Appleton as Micron’s “high-energy, never-give-up type of inspirational leader,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Kevin Cassidy said that “the entire industry will miss Steve’s energy;” and added: “That said, Micron has a deep bench of managers that shared Steve’s vision.”