Source: AFP
A daredevil YouTuber who deliberately crashed his plane to boost his channel’s viewership and then lied about it to investigators has been jailed for six months after reaching a plea deal, US authorities said Monday.
In a video of the event titled “My Plane Crashed,” Trevor Jacobs is seen experiencing engine trouble while flying over southern California in November 2021.
The dramatic footage, which has been viewed millions of times on YouTube, shows Jacob, now 30, ejecting from the single-engine plane — selfie stick in hand — and parachuting into the dense vegetation of Los Padres National Forest.
Cameras mounted throughout the aircraft show its uncontrolled descent into the forest and its eventual landing.
Jacob, a former Olympic snowboarder, films himself hiking through the wreckage, where he looks dismayed to discover that the water he collected has disappeared.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/15ebfdcdbb5ac4f6.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/15ebfdcdbb5ac4f6.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Saudi Arabia says ‘absolutely no’ to oil phase-out at COP28
However, he has the presence of mind to retrieve the footage from the cameras.
He then records a seemingly arduous journey through the undergrowth to reach safety.
In the weeks following the incident, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began investigating the crash, and Jacobs was ordered to preserve the wreckage.
The YouTuber told officials he didn’t know where the plane went down.
“In fact, on December 10, 2021, Jacob and a friend flew a helicopter to the wreckage site,” the District Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Monday.
“There, Jacob used straps to secure the wreckage, which the helicopter picked up and transported to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County, where it was loaded onto a trailer attached to Jacob’s truck.”
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/1b8ec44f824d3187.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/1b8ec44f824d3187.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
To green wash or do the right thing? Corporate dilemmas at COP28
The wreckage of the single-engine plane was cut into small pieces and dumped in dumpsters in and around the Lompoc City Airport in an attempt to hide evidence of the crash.
The FAA, the agency that regulates aviation in the United States, obtained Jacob’s pilot’s license in April 2022.
When investigators closed in, Jacob cut a deal and agreed to plead guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
“Jacob lied to federal investigators when he filed an air accident incident report that falsely indicated the aircraft suffered a total loss of power,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
“[Jacob] likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain,” federal prosecutors said.
“However, this kind of ‘bold’ behavior cannot be tolerated.”
Jacob’s original video, along with several others he posted after the escape, have now been removed from YouTube, but a copy can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41iOvFuKsyY
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/066ae3727ae8dddd.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/066ae3727ae8dddd.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
In a flash, Musk puts X’s survival in the balance
Pilots and aviation experts have been criticizing Jacob in the nearly two years since the video was first posted.
Many noted that Jacob had not taken even rudimentary steps to restart his plane’s apparently troubled engine.
Others pointed out that he could have easily glided the plane safely to a landing and that wearing a parachute while flying a small aircraft was highly unusual.
Source: AFP