California man admits to deliberately crashing plane to get YouTube views – The Hill

Skip to content Blog Briefing Room California man admits to deliberately crashing plane to get YouTube views (KTLA) – With multiple camera shots and slick editing, former pilot Trevor Jacob documented the dramatic moments when his small plane crashed into a California hillside in Santa Barbara County, just moments after he jumped from the cockpit and parachuted to safety. The 2021 video, uploaded to YouTube with the title “I Crashed My Airplane,” quickly amassed hundreds of thousands of views. It was all staged. On Wednesday, Jacob, 29, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing a federal investigation after admitting to intentionally crashing the plane to get views on his YouTube channel, the United States Department of Justice announced. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Prosecutors say Jacob took off from the Lompoc City Airport in Santa Barbara County on Nov. 24, 2021, in his single-engine Taylorcraft BL-65 on a solo flight purportedly destined for Mammoth Lakes. In the YouTube video, Jacob claimed he intended to spread someone’s ashes over the Los Padres National Forest. Once over the mountains, the video shows Jacob saying the plane’s lone engine had failed. “Holy s—! I’m over the mountains and
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