YouTuber jailed after deliberately crashing into and destroying wreckage of airplane for views
A YouTuber has been jailed after deliberately crashing his plane and destroying the wreckage for views.
In a video uploaded to his channel in December 2021 tilted 'I Crashed My Airplane' - which has over four million views - former Olympic snowboarder Trevor Jacob filmed his escape from a stalled plane.
Obviously, in such a crisis moment, the last thing you would probably be doing is filming it - which led to some growing suspicions of Jacob.
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As Jacob got stressed and multiple swear words were heard, the YouTuber jumped from the plane using a parachute before appearing to show the aircraft crashing.
Following his escape, the video showed Noah spending hours walking through the mountains in the hope he would find civilisation.
Jacob explained during the video how he got into the situation, saying: "On November 24th, 2021, I took off to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to spread my best friend Johnny Strange’s ashes.
"I planned to document the entire trip and make a video sharing the adventure.
"During the flight I experienced an engine failure over some mountains. There was no safe space to land."
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However, many questioned Jacob's story as there was no attempt by the YouTuber to safely land the aircraft.
Earlier this year, as part of a plea agreement, Jacob admitted he crashed the plane intentionally as part of a product sponsorship deal.
The skydiver pleaded guilty to one felony count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
At worst, Jacob could have faced a whopping 20 years in prison, but he will instead face six months behind bars.
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said: "[Jacob] most likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain.
"Nevertheless, this type of 'daredevil' conduct cannot be tolerated."
Meanwhile, a press release stated: "In the weeks following the plane crash, Jacob lied to investigators that he did not know the wreckage's location.
"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."
The release went on to say that Jacob and his friend flew via helicopter to the crash site to look at the wreckage for themselves on 10 December.
Jacob then went on to take straps 'to secure the wreckage', which was eventually loaded back onto Jacob's truck and taken to the airport where the airplane originally took off.
Callum Jones