It turns out the law frowns upon endangering your own life and the lives of others by intentionally crashing a plane into a mountain with the hope of generating some social media clout.
This is the lesson YouTuber and content creator Trevor Jacob, who intentionally crashed his plane in Los Padres National Forest almost exactly two years ago, learned yesterday, as he was sentenced to six months in federal prison.
The sentencing puts a bow on a case that has lasted basically since Jacob uploaded the video of his stunt on December 23rd, 2021. He said in a statement that the sentencing was the "right decision."
Though many might say "crashing your plane for views" was already a poor decision, Jacob's scheme was quickly found out due to several details of his crash that seemed suspicious.
For starters, aviation experts said Jacob could not have fit a parachute into the 1940s aircraft unless he specifically removed some gear beforehand. Jacob also made no attempt to safely land the plane in a more responsible manner.
Finally, the sudden stoppage of the plane's propeller would likely only happen if Jacob pulled back the control and slowed the aircraft.
By April, the FAA determined that Jacob crashed the plane intentionally and revoked his pilot's license.
Jacob pleaded guilty to one charge of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation on June 30th. Part of his crime involved lying to investigators, stating he did not know where the wreckage ended up, but in reality, he had already removed the wreckage from the crash site and destroyed it.
His lawyers sought probation for the YouTuber and former Olympian to no avail. However, six months of jail time is comparably lenient to the maximum penalty for his crime, which was 20 years.
In what might be his last video uploaded to his YouTube channel (or perhaps one last chance to farm some views before serving time), Trevor Jacob uploaded a video titled "I Got My Pilots License Back! But Going To Prison…" yesterday and said in the description "We learn from our mistakes."