A 29-year-old YouTuber has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a federal investigation after deliberately crashing his plane in California's Los Padres National Forest in 2021, the US Department of Justice has announced.
Trevor Jacob, who described himself as an experienced pilot and skydiver, faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He parachuted out of the single-engine aircraft before it crashed and later uploaded a video of the incident to YouTube.
Jacob initially told investigators that his plane lost power and that he did not know where the wreckage was. However, authorities found that he made no attempt to contact air traffic control, restart the engine or search for a safe landing spot.
In his plea agreement, Jacob admitted that he never intended to complete the solo flight from Lompoc airport to Mammoth Lakes. Before take-off on 24 November 2021, he mounted several cameras on the plane, equipped himself with a parachute, video camera and selfie stick, and jumped about 35 minutes into the flight. After landing, he retrieved the footage from the crash site.
Two days later, Jacob reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) but told investigators he did not know where the wreckage was. On 10 December 2021, he and a friend towed the plane to a hangar in Santa Barbara County, where he destroyed sections of the aircraft and placed the parts in rubbish bins to mislead investigators. He uploaded the video titled 'I Crashed My Plane' on 23 December 2021. In April 2022, the FAA revoked his pilot license.
