A man who intentionally crashed his airplane in the Los Padres National Forest and posted a YouTube video of it has been sentenced to six months in federal prison.
Trevor Jacob, a YouTube personality, extreme athlete and former Olympic snowboarder, pleaded guilty in June to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
On November 24, 2021, Jacob took off in his small airplane from the Lompoc City Airport, purportedly on his way to Mammoth Lakes. Approximately 35 minutes later, he ejected from the plane and parachuted to the ground. The plane crashed in the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria.
The plane had been equipped with multiple cameras and Jacob also had a camera with him when he jumped out of the plane. Once on the ground, Jacob hiked to the crash site and recovered the video.
About a month after the crash, Jacob posted a YouTube video titled "I Crashed My Airplane" that depicted him parachuting from the plane as well as its crash.
Jacob reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) two days after the plane went down. He reportedly claimed that the plane had lost power. Both the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched investigations.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the NTSB told Jacob it was his responsibility to preserve the wreckage so the agency could examine it.
Jacob reportedly told investigators he did not know the location of the wreckage, but the DOJ says that was a lie, and on December 10, Jacob used a helicopter to remove the wreckage from the crash site. Authorities say he then transferred the wreckage to a truck and drove it to a hangar at the Lompoc Airport where he further destroyed the wreckage and disposed of the parts.
The DOJ says Jacob was purposely trying to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the crash, and his claim that the plane had lost power was a lie.
They also say he never planned to make it to Mammoth Lakes. Rather, his intention was to make money through the YouTube video which even contained an ad for a wallet he'd agreed to promote.
"It appears that [Jacob] exercised exceptionally poor judgment in committing this offense," prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. "[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."
The FAA revoked Jacob's pilot license in 2022.
