The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revoked YouTuber and former Olympian Trevor Jacob’s private pilot certificate after deciding that he purposefully crashed his aircraft for a video.
Mr. Jacob was under investigation, as per the New York Times, after he was accused of fabricating a plane accident in December 2021 to create a movie about it for social media views. Mr. Jacob may be seen parachuting out of a civilian plane that he claims malfunctioned while hovering over the Los Padres National Forest in California in the video “I Crashed My Plane.”
Aviation experts asked whether the crash was a genuine accident after seeing the video. As per the New York Times, the FAA now agrees that Mr. Jacob’s donning a parachute was unusual in the first place. “During this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you stated the engine had failed,” the aviation agency wrote in the letter to the former Olympian.
Mr. Jacob also made no effort to reach air traffic control on the crisis frequency, restart the engine, or seek a location to land, even though there were many areas in the gliding range where he could have achieved a safe landing, according to the police. The YouTuber “recovered and then disposed of the wreckage” after the crash, according to the FAA.
Mr. Jacob “violated federal aviation standards by flying his single-engine plane negligently or recklessly, endangering the lives or property of others.” According to the New York Times, the FAA claimed in its statement that “Mr. Jacob displayed a lack of care, judgment, and duty by jumping out of an airplane simply to record the footage of the accident.”
As a result, Jacob’s private pilot certificate has been canceled by the FAA. His authorization to fly any aircraft was also suspended, and he was cautioned that if he did not adhere to the order, he would face further legal action.
