In case any readers require advising: please do not deliberately crash your little prop airplane into a national park for the social networks likes. If you in some way still select to desert commonsense in the hopes of acquiring an advertisement sponsorship, at least, do not lie to the National Transportation Safety Board about your stunt. And, if definitely nothing else, absolutely do not treat your aircraft’s wreckage like you’re concealing a murder scene. You will most likely go to jail.
Case in point: Trevor Jacob, a 30-year-old online YouTuber sentenced on Monday to 6 months in jail in the occurring consequences of his 12-minute YouTube video, “I Crashed My Airplane“. Given that its posting, the video has actually obtained 4.4 million views.
News of Jacob’s penalty showed up in a Monday Department of Justice statement, by means of The Verge. The “skilled pilot, skydiver, and previous Olympic professional athlete” initially published his video-turned-felonious proof to the platform on December 23, 2021. The video footage, drawn from numerous camera installed to his single-prop Taylorcraft BL-65 and an electronic camera connected to a selfie stick, reveals Jacob deserting his flight midair due to a supposed power failure (later on exposed to be incorrect) and unfurling a parachute above California’s Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria. Jacob catches short shots of the aircraft’s unchecked descent as he drifts to the ground, while onboard electronic cameras tape the subsequent crash landing in dry brush within the federally secured location.
Jacob just notified the NTSB of the crash 2 days later on, at which time the firm informed Jacob to maintain the wreckage and offer collaborates to its place– neither of which he did, states the DOJ.
Jacob rather “lied to private investigators” for weeks, declaring he might not discover the crash website. He and a conspirator flew a helicopter back to the airplane’s remains, strapped the wreckage to it, and took a trip back to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County. As soon as there, they moved the proof into a trailer connected to Jacob’s truck, drove to Lompoc City Airport garage, and continued to break down the particles over the occurring days.
[Related: Influencer fined for hitting golf ball into the Grand Canyon.]
[Jacob] transferred the removed parts of the trashed aircraft into trash can at the airport and somewhere else … with the intent to block federal authorities,” checks out a part of the DOJ statement
Almost a month to the day after the stunt, Jacob published their “I Crashed My Airplane” video to YouTube, that included clear scenes of Jacob taking a trip to the wreckage website supposedly 20 minutes after parachuting to the ground. “I Crashed My Plane” likewise pleased the conditions of a previous sponsorship offer according to the DOJ, which specified Jacob would promote a wallet business’s items within an approaching video post.
Jacob continued to preserve his innocence in a January 2022 declaration to the Federal Aviation Administration,
