YouTuber and former Olympic snowboarder Trevor Jacob was sentenced to six months in prison for obstructing the investigation of the plane crash he intentionally caused. Jacob pleaded guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation last June in Los Angeles, the New York Times reported. The stunt was planned and filmed to produce a viral video for profit and notoriety.
The YouTube video titled “I Crashed My Airplane” featured Jacob setting out on a solo flight to scatter the ashes of his dead friend and promote the Ridge Wallet. Around 35 minutes into the November 2021 flight, he jumped with a parachute from the camera-laden 1940 Taylorcraft, leaving the plane to crash into the Los Padres National Forest. Jacob then hiked to the crash site to recover the video footage.
Jacob informed the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the crash two days later. The agency stated to the clout chaser that he was responsible for preserving the wreckage and turning over any incident footage for the investigation. He told the NTSB that he didn’t know where that plane crashed, which was proven to be untrue. Jacob hired a contractor to fly a helicopter to lift the wreckage to a trailer towed by his pickup truck
Jacob drove the destroyed aircraft back to the airport and attempted to dispose of the plane. He cut the wreckage up into pieces and tried to dump it in trash bins around the airport. Prosecutors stated during sentencing:
“It appears that [Jacob] exercised exceptionally poor judgment in committing this offense. [Jacob] most likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain. Nevertheless, this type of ‘daredevil’ conduct cannot be tolerated.”
Hopefully, Jacob doesn’t try to start vlogging during his six-month prison sentence. If he’s willing to crash a plane on purpose and exploit the death of a friend for money, nothing is off the table.