YouTuber who intentionally crashed a plane now facing 20 years in jail

A YouTuber and pilot who crashed his aircraft intentionally could face up to 20 years in jail.

Trevor Jacob filmed himself on November 24 and posted it in December 2022, claiming that he was forced to jump from the craft.

He was flying over California’s Los Padres national forest in a 1940 Taylorcraft BL-65, when he parachuted out of it and left it to crash.

The 29-year-old previously lost his pilot’s licence. He has now pleaded guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation, a crime that "carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison".

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“In the weeks following the plane crash, Jacob lied to investigators that he did not know the wreckage’s location, according to the plea agreement. In fact, on December 10, 2021, Jacob and a friend flew by helicopter to the wreckage site.

There, Jacob used straps to secure the wreckage, which the helicopter lifted and carried to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County, where it was loaded onto a trailer attached to Jacob’s pickup truck,” federal prosecutors said in a press release.

I Crashed My Airplanewww.youtube.com

The prosecutors added: “Jacob further admitted he lied to federal investigators when he submitted an aircraft accident incident report that falsely indicated that the aircraft experienced a full loss of power approximately 35 minutes after takeoff.

"Jacob also lied to an FAA aviation safety inspector when he said the airplane’s engine had quit and, because he could not identify any safe landing options, he had parachuted out of the plane.”

Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it had revoked his licence.

The administration said in an official letter: “On November 24, 2021, you demonstrated a lack of care, judgment, and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so you could record the footage of the crash.”

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