YouTuber Trevor Jacob jailed after crashing plane for views

Trevor Jacob, a 30-year-old YouTuber, has been sentenced to six months in jail for intentionally crashing his plane to garner views and subsequently lying about it to US investigators. In December 2021, Jacob uploaded a video of the plane crash, insinuating it was an accidental occurrence. He ejected from the plane, selfie stick in hand, and parachuted to safety. The video quickly went viral, amassing millions of views.

In a plea agreement, Jacob confessed that the video was filmed as part of a product sponsorship deal. The former Olympic snowboarder pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Federal prosecutors in California stated on Monday that Jacob likely committed this offence to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain. They emphasized that such reckless conduct cannot be tolerated.

Jacob expressed that the experience has been humbling and agreed with the sentence. In November 2021, Jacob embarked on a solo flight from a Santa Barbara, California, airport with cameras mounted on his plane. He also brought along a parachute and a selfie stick. The US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California stated that Jacob had no intention of reaching his destination, but instead planned to eject from his aircraft during the flight and video himself parachuting to the ground and his airplane as it descended and crashed. The plane crashed into the Los Padres National Forest 35 minutes post take-off. Jacob hiked to the site and retrieved the footage. He uploaded the video titled 'I crashed my airplane' to YouTube on 23 December, which contained a promotion for a wallet company. Some viewers were sceptical of the crash, noting that Jacob was already wearing a parachute and made no attempt to land the plane safely. He reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board, who instructed him to preserve the wreckage. Jacob later claimed he did not know the location of the site. However, he did, and returned by helicopter and secured and removed the wreckage, which he later destroyed. The video garnered almost three million views before it was removed.