Jacob lied to investigators and destroyed evidence of his crime leading him to jail for six months
December 6, 2023 at 14:44
Trevor Jacob is going to federal prison for six months after he intentionally crashed an airplane allegedly for social media clout. The former Olympic athlete admitted that he lied to investigators and disposed of evidence. This should put a button on a lengthy investigation including the loss of Jacob’s pilot’s license.
The entire ordeal began in December of 2021 when Jacob posted a video to YouTube entitled “I Crashed My Airplane.” The film documented what Jacob described as engine failure and his escape from the aircraft before it crashed. He then hiked to the crash site and recovered a number of cameras attached to it.
The video immediately made waves and in some cases not for the best of reasons. Other pilots began to question some of the things portrayed in the video. For instance, Jacob makes mention of how he always wears a parachute while flying yet, the one he wore wasn’t the type a pilot would typically wear in his scenario. Others noticed how he appeared to have fire extinguishers in his pants legs as he exited the aircraft. Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
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At one point he told investigators that he didn’t know where the plane was but on December 10th, 2021 he and a friend with a helicopter airlifted the wreckage out of the crash site. Jacob then destroyed the evidence and discarded it. In 2022, the FAA revoked his pilot’s license as a result of its findings in connection with the crash. Part of Jacob’s plea agreement highlighted that he never intended to complete the flight and instead had a sponsorship deal to promote a product in the video.
“It appears that (Jacob) exercised exceptionally poor judgment in committing this offense,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum obtained by CNN. “(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.”
Jacob wrote a letter to the judge in this case that apologized for the act and went on to say “While I carefully researched the plane route to make sure the crash would not be near human housing or trail routes, I should have never gone forward with it.” Evidently, the FAA has now reinstated his pilot’s license. He’ll have to wait at least six months before he gets to flex his wings again though.