A 29-year-old YouTuber, Trevor Daniel Jacob, who intentionally cr@shed his airplane while pretending it was an unavoidable accident, has pleaded guilty to federal charges and faces 20 years in prison, according to an announcement from federal prosecutors on Thursday.
An experienced pilot and skydiver, Jacob agreed to promote a wallet in a YouTube video as part of a sponsorship deal, according to his plea agreement. On November 24, 2021, Jacob filmed himself in his airplane taking off from Lompoc City Airport on a flight destined for Mammoth Lakes. But Jacob never intended to reach his destination. Instead, he planned to film himself ejecting mid-flight while his plane cr@shed.
As part of his plan, Jacob mounted multiple video cameras on different parts of the airplane and was himself prepared with a parachute, video camera, and selfie stick, prosecutors said. He outfitted the plane with cameras from several angles and about 35 minutes after take off he ejected from the plane above the Los Padres National Forest.
Meanwhile, the cameras mounted on the airplane captured it crashing into a dry brush area in forest, according to prosecutors. “After parachuting to the ground, Jacob hiked to the location of the wreck and recovered the data containing the video recording of his flight and the crash of the airplane,”
Two days later, Jacob informed the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the plane crash. The agency immediately launched an investigation and told Jacob that he was responsible for preserving the wreckage so the agency could examine it.
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