The YouTuber who crashed his plane and destroyed the wreckage
Trevor Jacob deliberately filmed himself abandoning an airplane for a sponsored video. He received six months in federal prison for destroying and concealing the wreckage to obstruct investigators.
Key facts
- Defendant
- Trevor Daniel JacobSource 7
- Incident
- November 24, 2021, Los Padres National Forest, CaliforniaSource 8
- Aircraft
- Taylorcraft BL-65, registration N29508Source 8
- Guilty plea
- June 30, 2023Source 6
- Sentence
- 6 months of incarceration, December 4, 2023Source 7
- Additional terms
- 2 years of supervised release; $100 special assessmentSource 7
A flight planned for the cameras
On November 24, 2021, Trevor Daniel Jacob took off from Lompoc City Airport with cameras fixed to his airplane and a parachute on his back. The flight was presented as a journey to Mammoth Lakes. His later plea agreement, summarized by the Justice Department, established that he had no intention of reaching that destination.
Jacob instead planned to leave the aircraft during flight and record both his parachute descent and the plane's crash. Above Los Padres National Forest, he did exactly that, then hiked to the wreck and collected the recording data. A video uploaded on December 23 promoted a sponsored wallet. He admitted that he intended to earn money from it.
The account he gave investigators
An NTSB interview summary dated November 26, 2021, preserves the initial explanation Jacob gave an investigator. He said the engine had lost power over mountainous terrain and that he had found no suitable landing options. He also described walking to the crashed aircraft, yet said he did not know its location and would try to establish it.
These statements are recorded claims, not the final findings. The same interview summary documents the investigator telling Jacob that he was responsible for securing the wreckage and that the NTSB needed to examine it. That instruction gave the subsequent handling of the aircraft particular importance.
The wreckage was removed and destroyed
According to the Justice Department's sentencing account, Jacob continued telling investigators that he did not know where the airplane was. On December 10, 2021, he and a friend returned to the site by helicopter. The wreckage was lifted out, transferred to a trailer and taken to a hangar at Lompoc City Airport.
Jacob then cut up the aircraft and placed pieces in trash bins at the airport and elsewhere. The admitted purpose was to prevent federal investigators from examining evidence from the crash. He also submitted a report falsely describing a complete engine-power loss and repeated that explanation to an FAA aviation safety inspector.
What the digital evidence preserved
A separate NTSB specialist's report examined memory cards supplied during the investigation. A Sony camera card contained three accessible videos associated with the day of the flight. The recordings showed the aircraft on a taxiway, Jacob promoting a pocket wallet and a person interacting with cameras before the aircraft moved toward takeoff.
Investigators also recovered deleted recordings of a telephone conversation with an FAA employee. Other examined cards contained unrelated skydiving or snorkeling footage, or could not be accessed. The report gives a narrower, documented picture of the available material than a claim that investigators recovered every recording of the crash. It is evidence of the recorded preparations and the subsequent inquiry.
The criminal conviction and sentence
The prosecution concerned obstruction. An information charging Jacob was filed on May 10, 2023, together with an agreement to plead guilty. The actual guilty plea was accepted on June 30, 2023. The offence was destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
On December 4, 2023, the federal court sentenced him to six months of incarceration. The Department of Transportation's inspector general also records two years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. The extraordinary stunt explains the case's context, but the prison term was imposed for obstructing the investigation through destruction and concealment of evidence.
The crash finding and the obstruction conviction
The NTSB's final report, published on August 17, 2023, identified the pilot's decision to intentionally crash the airplane as the probable cause. It records that the Taylorcraft BL-65 was destroyed and that the pilot sustained minor injuries. Its account also describes the referral of the matter to the transportation inspector general.
An aviation finding and a criminal conviction answer different questions; the NTSB itself explains that its investigations determine causes rather than legal liability. Read together with the plea and sentencing records, the sources establish both the intentional crash and the separate obstruction conviction. They verify a historical prison sentence, but this feature does not claim a current imprisonment or pilot-certificate status.
Case timeline
Jacob intentionally abandoned the airplane during flight and filmed the crash.
Source 1He removed the wreckage by helicopter before cutting it up and disposing of it.
Source 3The court accepted his guilty plea to obstruction.
Source 6The NTSB published its final report finding an intentional crash.
Source 8The federal court imposed six months of incarceration.
Source 7
Sources & case status
Historical sentence verified: six months of incarceration plus two years of supervised release, imposed December 4, 2023. Current custody and aviation-certificate status have not been verified.
- DOJ: Jacob agrees to plead guilty and admits the planned crashU.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California · May 11, 2023
- NTSB: interview summary, November 26, 2021National Transportation Safety Board · November 26, 2021Interview/document date; the public docket was released August 17, 2023.
- Santa Barbara County Man Sentenced to 6 Months in Prison for Obstructing Federal Probe into Plane Crash He Posted on YouTubeU.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California · December 4, 2023
- NTSB: Electronic Devices Specialist's Factual ReportNational Transportation Safety Board · April 4, 2022Report date; the public docket was released August 17, 2023.
- DOT inspector general: charging information filedU.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General · May 10, 2023
- DOT inspector general: guilty plea acceptedU.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General · June 30, 2023
- DOT inspector general: incarceration and supervision termsU.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General · December 4, 2023
- NTSB: final report, WPR22LA049National Transportation Safety Board · August 17, 2023
This feature describes the cited historical record. It is not a live custody or court-docket service.