Trevor Jacob

Jacob owned a Taylorcraft BL-65, a 1940 vintage single-engine light aircraft registered as N29508. On November 24, 2021, he took off from Lompoc Airport alone, claiming that he was flying to Mammoth Mountain to spread ashes of his friend Johnny Strange.[11][12][13] The aircraft was described by sources at Lompoc Airport as "in need of major maintenance."[11] Unusually for him when piloting, indeed for pilots of most civil aircraft, Jacob wore a bulky skydiving parachute, a style that is awkward to wear in a small Taylorcraft with standard seats. The aircraft was outfitted with several digital cameras to film the flight, and Jacob carried a selfie stick.[2][11]

During the flight, the engine stopped running and Jacob parachuted to the ground, suffering minor injuries on landing. The unoccupied aircraft crashed into unpopulated scrubland in Los Padres National Forest near New Cuyama, California, and was substantially damaged.[11][12][13] Jacob walked to the crash site before hiking out and saying that the engine had failed.[11]

A month later, Jacob released an edited video depicting many of these events on his YouTube channel. It does not show the aircraft controls nor engine instruments when the engine stops running.[2][14] Jacob is also not seen carrying out basic aviation emergency procedures such as trying to restart the engine, contacting air traffic control, or initiating a forced landing despite potential landing sites being visible. These and other unusual behaviors led to skepticism from the aviation community, who suspected that the crash was a deliberate publicity stunt.[2][11][14]

Jacob denied having purposefully left the aircraft to crash, saying that "People can believe whatever they choose."[2]

Two days after the accident, Jacob reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which immediately opened an investigation and ordered Jacob to preserve the wreckage for examination and share all of his video footage of the incident; Jacob agreed to do so.[15] The NTSB does not normally investigate off-airport general aviation crashes that do not involve serious injuries to persons, flight control problems, or substantial damage to property other than the aircraft itself.[13][14] Three days later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also opened an investigation. Jacob told the NTSB and FAA that he could not remember exactly where the crash took place despite having hiked to and from the site to recover his cameras.[15] The U.S. Forest Service said that the aircraft wreckage was removed from Los Padres under mysterious circumstances before the YouTube video was posted.[16] Jacob told FAA and NTSB investigators that he could not explain why the wreck seemingly vanished.[15]

In April 2022, the FAA determined that Jacob indeed abandoned the aircraft solely to film the crash. The FAA cited his opening of the cabin door prior to the purported engine failure; the lack of any attempt to execute an emergency landing, contact air traffic control, or restart the engine; and his personal unsupervised recovery of the onboard cameras and the aircraft wreckage, which he disposed of, the agency said. The FAA revoked his private pilot certificate and ruled that he will not be permitted to apply for a new certificate for one year, stating that "your flight ... [was] careless or reckless so as to endanger life or property of another."[5][17]

On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced that Jacob pleaded guilty to a felony charge of "destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation." According to prosecutors, Jacob admitted he lied to federal investigators by submitting a false aircraft accident report and by falsely stating to an FAA investigator that he parachuted from his plane because the engine had quit and he could not find a safe place to land. He also admitted that he and an unnamed friend used a helicopter to airlift the wreck to the Rancho Sisquoc area on December 10, 2021, where Jacob later loaded it onto a truck trailer, moved it to a hangar at Lompoc Airport, cut it up, and disposed of the pieces in various locations over several days, all without authorization and while telling investigators he did not know where the wreckage was.[1][7] Jacob said that the motive for his scheme was to earn commissions from The Ridge, the wallet manufacturer which sponsored his video.[18][19] The crime is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in federal prison;[1][7] however, as a consequence of the plea agreement, Jacob will serve no more than 24 months in prison, and may be fined "$250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest".[15] When released from prison, Jacob will not be able to apply for a pilot's certificate during his probation or parole.[20]