Anonymous
By the Department of Justice
A YouTuber pilot has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge for obstructing a federal investigation by deliberately destroying the wreckage of an airplane that he intentionally crashed in Santa Barbara County to gain online views, the Justice Department announced today.
Trevor Daniel Jacob, 29, of Lompoc, agreed to plead 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.
A plea agreement and a one-count information charging Jacob were filed Wednesday in United States District Court in Los Angeles. He is expected to make his initial court appearance in the coming weeks.
According to his plea agreement, Jacob is an experienced pilot and skydiver who had secured a sponsorship from a company that sold various products, including a wallet. Pursuant to the sponsorship deal, Jacob agreed to promote the company’s wallet in a YouTube video that he would post.
Trevor Jacob in a video still as he jumped from his plane. [Courtesy Trevor Jacob YouTube Channel]
On November 24, 2021, Jacob took off in his airplane from Lompoc City Airport on a solo flight purportedly destined for Mammoth Lakes. Jacob did not intend to reach 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, he admitted in the plea agreement
Prior to taking off, Jacob mounted several video cameras on different parts of the airplane and equipped himself with a parachute, video camera and selfie stick. Approximately 35 minutes after taking off, while flying above the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria, Jacob ejected from the airplane and videoed himself parachuting to the ground.
Using the video camera mounted on the selfie stick and the video cameras he mounted on the airplane, Jacob was able to record the airplane as it descended and crashed into a dry brush area in Los Padres National Forest. After parachuting to the ground, Jacob hiked to the location of the wreck and recovered the data containing the video recording of his flight and the crash of the airplane, the plea agreement states.
Trevor Jacob in a video still after he jumped from his plane. [Courtesy Trevor Jacob YouTube Channel]
On November 26, 2021, Jacob informed the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the plane crash. The NTSB, which launched an investigation into the crash on or about that same day, told Jacob that he was responsible for preserving the wreckage so the agency could examine it. Jacob agreed to determine the crash location and provide both the coordinates of the downed plane and videos of the crash to NTSB investigators. Three days later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched its own investigation into the plane crash.
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.
Jacob drove the wreckage to Lompoc City Airport and unloaded it in a hangar. He then cut up and destroyed the airplane wreckage and, over the course of a few days, deposited the detached parts of the wrecked airplane into trash bins at the airport and elsewhere, which he admitted in his plea agreement was done with the intent to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash.
On December 23, 2021, Jacob uploaded a YouTube video titled, “I Crashed My Airplane,” that contained a promotion of the wallet and depicting him parachuting from the plane and the aircraft’s subsequent crash. Jacob admitted in his plea agreement that he intended to make money through the video.
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.
The FAA revoked Jacob’s pilot license in April 2022.
The United States Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General investigated this matter. The NTSB and FAA provided substantial assistance.
Assistant United States Attorney Mark A. Williams, Chief of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Dennis Mitchell and Dominique A. Caamano, also of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section, are prosecuting this case.
WHAT!?!?!
Yeah, it was pretty shady when the video came out. bye bye license.
Idiot
The things people do for “likes” these days
All this to promote a wallet? A wallet. The thing you rarely look at it that holds stuff? A wallet?
well that and YouTube$$$
100% dork
Very important that he be made an example of. He could have caused a massive forest fire with that crash. His complete disregard for the effects of his actions shows his pilots’ AND drivers’ licenses ought to be revoked FOR LIFE. And I’d like to see him stew in a cell for a couple of years. Way too many people are getting away with bad behavior for internet fame, this is not the role model we want for youth.
This article should have started with the phrase “A YouTuber ex-pilot agreed…”
The article says that Jacob “agreed to plead guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation, a crime that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.” Seems like he could have been charged with a lot more, like conspiracy, reckless endangerment, potentially causing a forest fire, etc. I hope he’s sentenced to many years in prison and given a large fine.
Turns out this ding dong is an Olympic snowboarder
https://people.com/human-interest/trevor-jacob-admits-staged-plane-crash-youtube-sponsorship-deal/
Thank you Lucky,
His actions epitomize a sociopath.
Thinking only of himself and his personal gain and/or attention, he put a lot, (maybe 100k)
of Santa Maria residents at risk of a forest fire spreading to the city. He’ll get some “likes” in prison.
Making his Momma proud!
Where does a 29-year-old get the $$$$ to do all of this? Plane, helicopter, hanger at the airport?
My thoughts exactly. I’d love to know more about this guy’s background. It’s true that youtubers can make loads of money but most don’t. Those that make the large sums you hear about are actually very rare. There are literally millions of attention seeking idiots trying to make a living this way and it’s incentivizing stupid behavior for attention. Without knowing more about this guy, I’d guess he comes from some money already and has no useful life skills.
THOMAS – you’d be amazed how much money these “You tubers” get. It’s insane.
How much do they make? Please advise
GOLETA – I don’t know the income of every single you tuber out there, just many make a lot of money. So much money that many might be “amazed.” I bet if you’re really interested and not just trolling again, you can look that info up for yourself though.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes
UNBELIEVABLE! Ugh. So reckless… with life, with nature, with money. ALL of it. A disgrace.
Pretty idiotic, desperate “stunt” for a 27 y/o. to perform for a few $$. I wonder how long his prison sentence will be?
AQUAHOLIC – It’s probably more than a few $$. These guys rake in tons of money. My kids showed me this guy Mr. Beast who makes so much money on You Tube he goes around buying people houses and cars on like every episode. It’s nuts! Kids click to view and every click means more money from advertisers. You don’t have to be a talented actor or singer or anything anymore, just get teens to click and watch!
@ sac. Mr beast is the highest paid YouTube creator. Not all channels make that type of $$$ just fyi.
BENICEE – yeah, I know. This guy obviously makes a lot though, so……
uTUBE management needs to use some AI or IQ to block such frauds.
and not pay idiots until votes are counted and content reviewed.
SO many young people have died doing stunts or standing too close to a cliff’s edge to get likes on social media. Darwin, anyone?
1940 Taylorcraft BL-65, hard to believe someone would chose to destroy this classic aircraft!