YouTuber and former Olympian Trevor Jacob, 30, from Lompoc has been handed a six-month prison stint for his role in deliberately crashing his plane for clout and obstructing the resulting federal investigation. The United States District Judge John F. Walter handed down the sentence after Jacob admitted to one count of destruction and concealment with intent to obstruct a federal investigation, as reported by The U.S. Attorney's Office.
An experienced aviator and adrenaline junkie, Jacob hatched a reckless plot to skydive from his own nose-diving aircraft, filming the entire debacle for a sponsored YouTube video that also featured a company's wallet promotion, not quite what the company had in mind when they signed up for product placement. It's evident this stunt was stitched together with a flagrant disregard for aviation safety or ethical advertising but to rack up internet views, secure subscribers, and likely earn a pretty penny.
On the day of the incident, November 24, 2021, several cameras were strategically mounted onto the aircraft before Jacob took a solo flight from Lompoc City Airport with no intention of reaching the alleged destination of Mammoth Lakes—35 minutes in, above the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria, he ejected and parachuted to safety, capturing the aircraft's tragic descent and crash-landing on his collection of recording equipment.
While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed due diligence, initiating a probe into the plane crash immediately upon notification from Jacob; he fabricated stories about the plane's whereabouts, leading federal agents on a wild goose chase; Jacob enlisted a friend's helicopter to uplift and transport the aircraft wreckage from its resting place to a remote Santa Barbara County location; afterwards, Jacob destroyed every scrap of evidence with the intent to mislead the investigative efforts of federal authorities.
This wild saga culminated with Jacob's YouTube video titled, "I Crashed My Airplane," which was uploaded on December 23, 2021, and now serves as a blatant testament to his deceit, prosecutors, condemning the actions, noted "It appears that [Jacob] exercised exceptionally poor judgment in committing this offense," in a sentencing memorandum as they underscored the broad, unacceptable consequences of his 'daredevil' antics.
This case was diligently unveiled and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dominique Caamano and Dennis Mitchell of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section, with the Office of Inspector General, NTSB, and FAA contributing significant assistance, as per U.S. Attorney's Office.
