YouTuber Deliberately Crashed His Plane So He Could Record A Video, FAA Says: Report

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently revoked the private pilot certificate of a YouTuber and former Olympian Trevor Jacob after determining that he crashed his plane on purpose for a video. 

According to New York Times, Mr Jacob had been under investigation after he was accused of staging a plane crash in December 2021 so that he could make a video about it for social media views. In the clip, titled “I Crashed My Plane”, Mr Jacob can be seen parachuting out of a civilian aircraft- which he claimed had malfunctioned - while flying over the Los Padres National Forest in California. 

The clip was met with scepticism from aviation enthusiasts, who questioned if the crash was a real accident. Now, according to the New York Times, the FAA has agreed that it seemed odd that Mr Jacob was wearing a parachute in the first place. The aviation agency, in its letter to the former Olympian, added, “During this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed." 

Further, the authorities noted that Mr Jacob made no attempt to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency, did not attempt restarting the engine, and did not look for a place to land even though there were multiple areas within gliding range in which he could have made a safe landing. The FAA continued that following the crash, the YouTuber “recovered and then disposed of the wreckage”. 

Mr Jacob “violated federal aviation regulations and operated his single-engine plane in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another. You demonstrated a lack of care, judgement and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so you could record the footage of the crash,” the FAA stated in its letter, as per the New York Times. 

Now, as a consequence, the FAA has reportedly revoked Jacob's private pilot certificate. The agency even ended his permission to operate any aircraft and additionally warned that he could face further legal enforcement action if he did not comply with the order.