Intentional Airplane Crash May Net 20 Years In Jail

Some pilots spend their life’s savings to get an airplane of their own. But at least one individual completely destroyed his, just to get people to watch him on YouTube.

As a result, Trevor Jacobs is facing 20 years in Federal prison for obstructing an investigation.

It all happened in November, 2021, when the FAA says Jacobs posted a video titled, “I crashed my airplane”, showing him jumping out of his single engine plane with a parachute, and letting it crash into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California.

He achieved his goal of getting more viewers, with about 3 million people having a look at it. He then went to the scene of the crash and removed the wreckage and disposed of it. But instead of clearing him of even a littering charge, that raised the ante.

Now, the Federal Aviation Administration says he interfered with an investigation by violating they ordered to him to preserve the crashed aircraft site for their investigation.

Jacobs admits he set the whole thing up, but he still faces two decades behind bars when he pleads guilty to the charges at his next court appearance.

 -Tony Lee