YouTuber Trevor Jacob jailed after crashing plane 'for views and sponsorship'

05 December 2023 , 09:51

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Jacob has been sentenced to six months in prison (Image: Youtube/Trevor Jacob)

A YouTuber who deliberately staged a plane crash for views and sponsorship has been sentenced to six months in prison for attempting to destroy the evidence.

Trevor Daniel Jacob, 30, posted a video which claimed to show his small plane suffering engine failure, before he parachuted out to ‘escape’ in November 2021. The film, titled "I Crashed My Airplane", was viewed millions of times on YouTube, showing him with a selfie stick in hand as he leaps out of the aircraft.

Cameras mounted on the wing and tail of the plane also recorded his jump. After the plane crash landed in the mountainous Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County, in California, Jacob trekked to the crash site and retrieved the videos from the cameras.

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Jacob staged the stunt for views and a sponsorship deal, his plea deal claimed (Trevor Jacob)

Jacob pleaded guilty in summer to one felony count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Federal prosecutors said in court that Jacob "most likely committed this offence to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain".

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The plea agreement says Jacob was promoting a product - a wallet company - when staging the crash. The US District Attorney’s Office said he "did not intend to reach his destination, but instead planned to eject from his aircraft during the flight and video himself parachuting to the ground and his aeroplane as it descended and crashed".

Trevor Jacob filmed himself falling (Trevor Jacob/Youtube)

Jacob took off on the solo flight from Santa Barbara, California, in November 2021. It was only 35 minutes after takeoff that the plane crashed into the Los Padres National Forest. Jacob reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board who told him that he was in charge of preserving the wreckage.

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But the YouTuber told the board that he did not know where the wreckage was - which was not true.

Jacob jumped out of the plane - with the parachute he had ready on his back (Trevor Jacob)

He got caught in brambles and struggled (Trevor Jacob/Youtube)

He returned to the wreckage on December 10, 2021, in a helicopter with a friend, before securing and removing the entire wreckage. It was flown to a trailer attached to his pickup truck before being cut up and disposed of in bins, the plea agreement confessed.

He did so “with the intent to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash”, prosecutors said. “This type of 'daredevil' conduct cannot be tolerated,” they added.

Jacob has now had his flying license revoked (Trevor Jacob/Youtube)

Jacob is also a former Olympic snowboarder who represented the United States in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, reaching the semi final of the men’s snowboard cross. He said in a statement that this experience has been “so humbling" and said the six month sentence was the "right decision", and has now had his pilot licence revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Alex Croft