A daring YouTuber, Trevor Jacob, has been sentenced to six months in jail as part of a plea deal after intentionally crashing his plane to attract more viewers to his channel.
The incident, documented in a video titled “I crashed my airplane,” occurred in November 2021 over southern California.
In the dramatic footage, Jacob, a 30-year-old former Olympic snowboarder, appears to experience engine trouble, leading to his intentional ejection from the single-engine plane.
Clutching a selfie stick, he parachutes into the dense vegetation of Los Padres National Forest.
The video, widely viewed on YouTube, captures the out-of-control descent and eventual crash landing of the aircraft.
Cameras strategically placed on the plane record its chaotic journey into the forest.
Jacob, upon reaching the wreckage, discovers the disappearance of his water supply but manages to salvage the recorded footage.
Subsequently, he documents a challenging trek through the undergrowth to reach safety.
Following the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiated an investigation.
Jacob initially claimed ignorance about the crash site but later, with a friend, airlifted the wreckage using a helicopter and concealed it at a different location.
To obstruct the investigation further, the remains of the single-engine plane were cut into small pieces and disposed of in and around Lompoc City Airport to eliminate evidence.
In April 2022, the FAA revoked Jacob’s pilot’s license.
Facing mounting pressure from investigators, Jacob entered into a plea deal, admitting guilt to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
The US District Attorney’s Office stated that Jacob had lied to investigators in a false aircraft accident incident report, suggesting a complete loss of power in the plane.
Federal prosecutors asserted that Jacob likely committed the offense to gain social media and news coverage, aiming for financial gain.
Despite the removal of Jacob’s original video and subsequent uploads from YouTube, a copy can be viewed here.
In the aviation community, pilots and experts have strongly criticized Jacob for almost two years since the video’s initial publication.
Observations include his failure to take basic steps to restart the troubled engine and the unconventional practice of wearing a parachute while flying a small aircraft.
Critics argue that Jacob could have safely glided the plane to a landing spot instead of resorting to the dramatic ejection.
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