Yakovlev YAK-55M accident near Everett, Washington, July 14, 2007
On July 14, 2007 at about 8:21 pm local time, a Yakovlev YAK-55M, registered N55NH, was destroyed in an accident near Everett, Washington. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and inspection that led to oil exhaustion and a catastrophic engine failure. Also causal was the pilot's attempted operation of an aircraft with known deficiencies, and the lack of a current airworthiness inspection. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering following the engine failure.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 14, 2007 · about 8:21 pm local time
- Place
- Everett, Washington · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Yakovlev YAK-55M · all YAK-55Ms on the register
- Registration
- N55NH · no longer on the register · serial 920307
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The day before the accident, the pilot had asked his mechanic to prepare two other airplanes for flight to a fly-in the following morning. The accident airplane had not flown in a year, nor had there been any entries in the maintenance logbooks in the last four years; it did not have a current condition inspection recorded in the logbooks. The mechanic said that he had been in the process of installing an intake oil drain kit, which drains oil from the lower 3 cylinders from a common quick drain. The mechanic said that the project was not complete, but it had progressed to the point that he had put new oil in the engine. On the morning of the accident, the pilot had to move the airplane out from the back of the hangar and install the engine cowling before flight. He flew to the airport where the fly-in was being held and landed without incident. On his return flight, as he approached the airport, he radioed the tower controller and said that his engine was running rough. Approximately two minutes later, he said that his engine had lost power, and he was going down. A witness on the ground said that he heard a loud bang and looked up to see blue-gray smoke coming from the airplane. Another witness said she saw the airplane making a low left turn, when it flipped inverted and spiraled to the ground. The airplane impacted in a residential area, approximately 15 feet behind a home. A post impact fire consumed the airplane. During an engine teardown, a cylinder was removed and significant heat distress was found on and around the main rod bearing. The main rod bearing was plastically deformed and broken; several connecting rods were bent and/or broken. Additionally, a heavy oil coating was found all along the bottom of the fuselage and most of the empennage was covered with oil. If the pilot had performed an adequate preflight before his return flight, it is likely that he would have noticed a significant loss of engine oil.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,000 hours in all; 20 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: sngl
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Vendeneyev M-14P (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: AWO Arlington WA at 8:00 pm
- Destination: PAE Everett WA
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 57°F (14°C)
- Altimeter: 30.02 inHg
- Observation at 7:53 pm from PAE, 3 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number SEA07FA195.