Youtuber and former Olympian Trevor Jaob has pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into a plane he deliberately crashed in 2021 by trying to get rid of the evidence.
In the plea agreement, Jacob admitted that he intended to obstruct US federal authorities investigating the crash by disposing of the wreckage of the plane, a 1940 Taylorcraft BL-65. He also admitted that he had created the Youtube video to make money through a paid sponsorship.
The former Olympic snowboarder took off from Lompoc City Airport in California on the 24th of November, 2021 in a 1940 Taylorcraft BL-65 aircraft to his hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California. He intended to spread the ashes of his late best friend, Johnny Strange after arriving home.
However, the journey did not end as intended (or maybe it did) as Jacob claimed his engine had failed and without trying to get help, he jumped out of the aircraft filming the experience, which he uploaded onto his Youtube channel with the title, “I Crashed My Airplane” exactly one month later.
After being rescued after hiking for a few miles after he recovered his Go Pro cameras that were fitted to the plane, he reported the crash to the US National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB) a few days later.
At that time, the NTSB launched an investigation and informed Jacob that he was responsible for preserving the wreckage of the plane. Instead, in December Jacob and a friend flew a helicopter to the crash site and airlifted the wreckage to a trailer attached to the Youtuber’s pickup truck.
Jacob then towed the wrecked parts back to Lompoc City Airport where he set about cutting and destroying the wreckage which he then disposed of. Unfortunately for Jacob, eagle-eyed viewers and flying enthusiasts had started to watch his crash video on Youtube and started poking holes into his claims about always wearing a parachute and the engine cutting off.
Many viewers stated that he had opened his door before the engine stopped and that he had not followed his training as a pilot by scanning for a safe place to land, setting the plane for its best glide, or even trying to restart the engine.
What made this even worse for the Youtuber was the fact that Jacob didn’t try to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency. To make matters worse for Jacob both the NTSB and FAA had also taken notice. Following an investigation, the FAA revoked his license.
However, this was the least of his worries as other government entities had started their own investigations into the crash, which finally lead to him pleading guilty to obstruction charges filed against him. He now faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars.
Thoughts: Youtubers come up with the craziest ideas to garner views but this one really took it to a whole new level by crashing his plane. We hope other view chasers see what happened in this case and don’t follow his lead.
