A YouTube daredevil who deliberately crashed his plane to boost his viewing figures could be jailed for 20 years after admitting to obstructing a federal investigation by destroying the wreckage. Trevor Jacob, 29, a former Olympic snowboarder, posted a 13-minute video in which he appears to experience engine trouble while flying over southern California. The dramatic footage, viewed nearly 3 million times, shows Jacob ejecting from the single-engine plane, selfie stick in hand, and parachuting into the Los Padres National Forest. His jump and the aircraft’s plunge were recorded by cameras mounted onto the plane’s wing and tail and by the camera he carried. After landing, he hiked to the crash site and recovered the video from the onboard cameras. Jacob had claimed he accidentally crashed the plane, but in a plea agreement he admitted to orchestrating the crash as part of a sponsorship deal. The FAA revoked Jacob’s pilot’s license in April 2022. He is expected to be sentenced later this year.
