Popular YouTuber Trevor Jacob sentenced to prison following reckless aircraft crash in pursuit of online fame

A YouTuber named Trevor Jacob has been sentenced to six months in prison for intentionally crashing his plane in order to gain views on his channel. He posted a video of the crash in December 2021, but falsely portrayed it as an accident. In the video, Jacob jumped out of the plane with a selfie stick in hand and parachuted down to the ground. The clip quickly went viral, accumulating millions of views. During his plea agreement, Jacob admitted that he filmed the video as part of a sponsorship deal. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. According to federal prosecutors in California, Jacob most likely committed this offense to gain attention on social media and generate financial gain for himself. Despite these reasons, the prosecutors emphasized that such dangerous behavior should not be tolerated. They stated that Jacob's conduct as a daredevil is unacceptable. Jacob himself expressed remorse in a statement, acknowledging the humbling experience and agreeing that the sentence is the appropriate decision. The incident occurred when Jacob took off from a California airport on a solo flight equipped with multiple cameras. He had planned to intentionally crash the plane mid-flight, parachuting down and filming the descent. The crash took place 35 minutes after take-off in the Los Padres National Forest. Jacob hiked to the crash site and retrieved the footage, which he later uploaded to YouTube under the title "I crashed my airplane." The video featured a promotion for a wallet company. Some viewers were skeptical of the crash as they noticed Jacob already wearing a parachute and making no effort to land the plane safely. Jacob reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board, who informed him that he was responsible for preserving the wreckage. However, Jacob claimed he didn't know the location of the crash site. Eventually, he retrieved the wreckage by helicopter and later destroyed it, as stated in the plea agreement. The video gained nearly three million views before it was taken down.