YouTuber pleads guilty over deliberate crashing of plane, faces up to 20 years in jail

What length a content creator can go to generate views and earn revenue? In California, a YouTuber literally staged a plane crash to attract more viewers to his channel. Trevor Jacob, 29, runs a YouTube channel where he uploads videos of him performing stunts and other adventurous acts. His channel has over 130,000 subscribers.

Last November, he uploaded a video showing himself abandoning a small Taylorcraft BL64 aircraft midair, after allegedly experiencing an engine failure. The video has so far generated above 2.9 million views. Now, authorities have found that the “accident” was staged. He is expected to make his initial court appearance in the coming weeks, and he could face up to 20 years of sentence.

YouTuber pleads guilty to obstructing federal agencies

The US Justice Department on Thursday said that the pilot-turned-YouTuber has agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in a statement said, “Jacob did not intend to reach his destination, but instead planned to eject from his aircraft during the flight and video himself parachuting to the ground and his airplane as it descended and crashed."

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After the plane crashed, Jacob hiked to the site and recovered the footage from cameras installed on the aircraft. Later, he again flew to the site along with his friend in a helicopter and destroyed the wreckage. However, Jacob reported a fake crashing accident to the authorities and also claimed that he didn’t know about the crash site.

Jacob’s video drew suspicion from other YouTubers

Jacob’s video of the staged plane crash drew scrutiny from aviation experts and YouTubers. Some noticed that he opened the aircraft’s door even before the engine allegedly failed. Some pointed out that the pilot of a small aircraft rarely flies with a skydiving parachute.

Also, he didn’t look out for a safe landing site nearby, and immediately resorted to abandoning the plane, even as the satellite images show there were a few ideal landing sites nearby.
His latest agreement to plead guilty to staging a plane crash contradicts with his earlier statements regarding the case. In January, he had said, "I'll happily say I did not purposely crash my plane for views on YouTube," saying he has a habit of "filming everything I do."

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