YouTuber to serve 6 months after crashing plane into mountain just for the clicks

YouTuber, pilot, and former Olympic snowboarder Trevor Daniel Jacob was sentenced to six months in federal prison after he intentionally crashed an airplane and hid the subsequent wreckage. 

On June 30, the 30-year-old Jacob pleaded guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation after he ejected from a plane and allowed it to plow into a California hillside, the Daily Mail reports.

Jacob's crash with his small plane occurred on Nov. 24, 2021 during a solo flight that began at the Lompoc City Airport. Jacob had captured the event in a 12-minute YouTube video that had garnered over one million views before he later deleted it from his page. The video was aptly titled, "I Crashed My Airplane."

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Jacob "most likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain."

They added, "Nevertheless, this type of 'daredevil' conduct cannot be tolerated."



In the same video, Jacob had "secured a sponsorship from a company that sold various items," per the release.

Jacob put up numerous cameras, in addition to a selfie stick inside of the aircraft prior to takeoff. 



He is seen in the clip parachuting to the ground shortly after flying over the Los Padres National Forest. 



Ultimately, the crash took place in a dry brush area of a forest near Santa Maria. Jacob promptly went to the crash site and collected his footage.

Approximately two days later, Jacobs told the National Transportation Safety Board about the crash's occurrence. The Board promptly launched a probe on the matter and informed Jacob that he must gather and preserve the damage for investigative purposes. 

The release states that Jacob lied to investigators about not knowing the location of the crash site, and that he later flew a helicopter to the crash site "to secure the wreckage" on Dec. 10. Jacob then took pieces of the crash to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara, where it was packed into his truck and then moved to the airport where his crashed plane had first taken off.

Jacob had done so with "intent to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash," per the release.

"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," read a press release by the United States Attorney's Office.