The Central District Court of California has sentenced a YouTuber to six months in federal prison for intentionally staging a plane crash for the sake of online views.
In May of this year, 30-year-old Trevor Daniel Jacob pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the incident after he submitted false information about the location of the wreckage and claimed that the crash was caused by an engine failure.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jacob deliberately planned to eject from his plane and film himself as he parachuted to the ground during a solo flight on November 24, 2021. Several video cameras were installed on his plane before takeoff. They, along with the camera on the selfie stick Jacob was holding after the ejection, were used to record the plane’s descent and crash into the Los Padres National Forest.
After reporting the “crash” to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on November 26, Jacob agreed to provide NTSB investigators with the coordinates of the crash site and video footage. Later, Jacob claimed that he was unaware of the crash site, despite the fact that on December 10 he collected the wreckage of the plane by helicopter and dumped it in trash cans around Lompoc Airport. On December 23, 2021, a video titled “I Crashed My Airplane” was uploaded to his YouTube channel, showing footage of Jacob’s crash and parachute landing, as part of a sponsorship deal to promote the company’s wallet.
During the investigation, the prosecutor’s office stated that Jacob “most likely committed this crime to generate publicity about himself on social media and in the news, as well as to gain financial gain,” and emphasized that such behavior should not be tolerated. The blogger’s actions could have potentially harmed air traffic, property or safety, as well as the national forest.
