Man Confesses to Crashing California Airplane for YouTube Views
In November of 2021, Trevor Daniel Jacob captured the intense moments of his plane going down on a Santa Barbara County hillside on film, using multiple cameras and expert editing. He was able to safely parachute away from the scene. Only the entire video was staged to earn views of the airplane crash on YouTube.
Last month, 29-year-old Jacob pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing a federal investigation. He confessed to deliberately crashing an aircraft for the purpose of gaining attention on his YouTube channel, according to the United States Department of Justice. He is now facing up to 20 years in federal prison.
Jacob obtained a sponsorship from a company that sold various items, like a wallet, which he planned to advertise on YouTube. Prosecutors allege that Jacob departed from a Southern California airport in Lompoc on his single-engine Taylorcraft BL-65 for a solo flight to Mammoth Lakes, another California airport. Only he never planned on landing the vessel. Rather, Jacob intended to bail out of his plane during the flight, record himself parachuting to the ground, and capture footage of his aircraft as it plummeted to the ground.
Approximately half an hour after takeoff, Jacob reported that the plane’s engine had stopped working while they were flying over the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria. Jacob jumped out of the plane with a video camera and selfie stick to film himself parachuting to the ground. He then thanked the lord for watching over him, trekked out of the forest, and signaled a driver for a ride.
Right away, people were a bit skeptical. Online feedback wonders why Jacob already had his parachute on and pondered why he didn’t attempt to regain control of the aircraft. Besides, who’s thinking about carrying and using a selfie stick when descending from the air?
According to the Department of Justice, Jacob initially delayed the investigation by two days by not reporting the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board. Then he claimed not to know where the plane had gone down. But two weeks later, he flew a helicopter to the crash site and moved the wreckage to a trailer in Santa Barbara.
Prosecutors stated that Jacob drove the destroyed plane to Lompoc City Airport and placed it in a hangar. He then proceeded to dismantle the aircraft and, over the course of several days, disposed of the pieces in various trash bins at the airport and other locations.
Prosecutors allege that Jacob misled federal investigators and an FAA safety inspector when he claimed the plane had lost power. He was unable to locate a safe area to land. Consequently, the FAA revoked his pilot’s license in April 2022. By the end of May, Jacob is expected to appear in court. Regardless, his “I Crashed My Airplane” video gained approximately 3 million views on YouTube.