A YouTuber pilot was sentenced today to six months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation by deliberately destroying the wreckage of a plane he crashed in Santa Barbara County to gain web views. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter sentenced Trevor Daniel Jacob, 30, of Lompoc.
Jacobs pleaded guilty on June 30 to one count of sabotage and concealment with intent to impede the federal investigation.
Jacob, an experienced pilot, skydiver and former Olympian, was sponsored by a company that sells a variety of products, including wallets. Under the sponsorship deal, Jacobs agreed to promote the company's wallet in YouTube videos he posted.
On November 24, 2021, Jacob took off from the Lompoc Municipal Airport and flew to Mammoth Lakes alone. Instead of reaching his destination, Jacobs planned to eject from the plane during the flight and film himself parachuting to the ground and the plane descending and crashing.
Before taking off, Jacobs installed multiple cameras in different parts of the plane and equipped himself with a parachute, video camera and selfie stick. About 35 minutes after takeoff, while flying over the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria, Jacob ejected from the plane and filmed his parachute landing.
Using a camera mounted on a selfie stick and a camera he mounted on the plane, Jacob documented the plane's descent and crash into a patch of dry brush in the Los Padres National Forest. After parachuting to the ground, Jacobs hiked to the wreckage site and recovered data containing video recordings of his flight and the crash.
On November 26, 2021, Jacobs notified the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the plane crash. The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation into the crash around the same day and told Jacobs it was his responsibility to preserve the wreckage so the agency could examine it. Jacobs agreed to determine the crash site and provide the coordinates of the downed plane and video of the crash to National Transportation Safety Board investigators. Three days later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched its own crash investigation.
In the weeks after the crash, Jacobs lied to investigators that he did not know the location of the wreckage. In fact, on December 10, 2021, Jacob and a friend took a helicopter to the location of the plane wreckage. There, Jacobs secured the wreckage with straps, and a helicopter lifted the wreckage and transported it to Rancho Siscuo in Santa Barbara County, where it was loaded onto a trailer attached to Jacobs' pickup truck.
Jacobs drove the wreckage to the Lompoc Municipal Airport and unloaded it in a hangar. He then cut up and destroyed the plane's wreckage, throwing separate parts into trash cans at airports and elsewhere over several days with the goal of obstructing federal authorities investigating the Nov. 24 crash.
On December 23, 2021, Jacobs uploaded a video to YouTube titled "I Crash My Plane," which contained a promotion for the wallet and described his parachute jump from the plane and its subsequent crash. Jacob plans to make money from the video.
Jacobs lied to federal investigators when he filed a plane accident report, claiming the plane completely lost power about 35 minutes after takeoff. Jacobs also lied to FAA aviation safety inspectors, stating that the plane's engines had stalled and that he had ejected because he could not find any options for a safe landing.
"It appears that [Jacob] exercised extremely poor judgment in committing this criminal act," prosecutors stated in a sentencing memorandum. "It is likely that he committed this criminal act in order to promote himself on social media and in news reports and to obtain financial gain. However, this kind of 'daring' behavior will not be tolerated."
The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided substantial assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dominique Caamano and Dennis Mitchell of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section prosecuted the case.