On the internet where viewership and engagement are the currency of success, some people would do anything to get them.
Not only virality can earn them fame, as increased views can also earn content creators money.
Daredevils have done it, as they push beyond the boundaries for the sake of increased views. These adrenaline junkies can often do things beyond what is imaginable.
And this time, Trevor Jacob has been accused as being one of them, but in a bad way.
Jacob, a pilot, has his license revoked after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration realized what went wrong.
The agency accused Jacob for crashing a plane on purpose for the sake of gaining online views.
It all began one day, when Trevor Jacob left Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, and was then shown cursing in panic before leaping with a parachute out of a small plane.
"I’m over the mountains and I … have an engine out," Jacob said into his camera while sitting in the cockpit.
The small 1940 Taylorcraft BL-65 single-engine plane he was in seemed to have malfunctioned, in which the propeller stopped spinning, causing the plane to lose altitude.
This forced Jacob to abandon the plane using a parachute.
The whole incident was recorded on film.
Jacob who was flying alone, landed safely in Southern California. He was later rescued by local farmers, and said that he was "lucky to be alive," adding: "This is why I always fly with a parachute."
He uploaded the footage to YouTube, so the world could see it.
The thing is, the incident caused many to question it, asking whether the crash was really accident.
Experts said that the whole thing was a set up.
First, when the plane allegedly broke down, Jacob didn't try restarting the engine by increasing airflow over the propeller. He also failed to contact air traffic control or glide the plane to one of several areas where he could have landed safely.
Second, Jacob was seen wearing a parachute when he took off. This is a highly unusual move.
While the parachute he was wearing was a skydiving parachute, which is smaller and more compact due to its sport use, wearing one would make it difficult for anyone to pilot a small plane like the Taylorcraft.
Third, the plane had several cameras strapped to it.
And fourth, in a life and death situation, Jacob was miraculously able to use his selfie stick to record his fall.
Jacob then filmed himself trekking through the remote Los Padres National Forest to get help, before visiting the plane's wreckage to recover the video from the on-board cameras.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration that investigated the case was suspicious of the whole thing, and concluded that Jacob acted recklessly and took away his license.
"You demonstrated a lack of care, judgment and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so you could record the footage of the crash," wrote the FAA in a letter to Jacob.
The FAA added that Jacob had violated federal aviation regulations, and operated his single-engine plane in a "careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another."
Because of this incident, the agency said it would immediately revoke Jacob’s private pilot certificate, effectively ending his permission to operate any aircraft.
Since the FAA doesn't have the ability to prosecute, the agency continued by ordering Jacob to surrender his private pilot certificate, or face "further legal enforcement action," which include a civil penalty of up to $1,644 for each day that he did not return it.
Jacob is known as a former snowboarder who competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He also competed in snowboard cross at the Winter X Games in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
In addition to snowboarding, Jacob has participated in skateboarding, surfing, BMX riding, motocross and mixed martial arts, and was part of Travis Pastrana's Nitro Circus collective.
Later, Jacob is also known as a daredevil who frequently posts videos of extreme stunts.
"I didn't think that just posting a video of an adventure gone south would ruffle so many feathers," he said, speaking about the incident.
When asked regarding the details, he declined to speak.
"I can’t talk about it, per my attorney."
"But the truth of that situation will come out with time," he added, "and I’ll leave that at that."
Jacob said that he had flown that day to spread the ashes of his best friend, Johnny Strange, over the top of a Sierra Nevada mountain. Strange, a world record holding adventurer, died in 2015 while BASE jumping, an extreme sport in which people parachute from a fixed object or structure, such as a cliff.
Strange fell to his death while jumping from Gitschen, a mountain of the Urner Alps near Lake Lucerne.
As for Los Padres National Forest, a spokesman for it called it a dangerous stunt, noting that anyone who intentionally causes a wildfire can be held liable for all the firefighting costs.
"Thankfully this incident did not spark a fire," Los Padres spokesman Andrew Madsen said.
It's later reported that what Jacob did can be considered a crime, and that Jacob also pleaded guilty to carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in California announced that Trevor Jacob pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing a federal investigation. He admitted to intentionally crashing his plane to gain publicity and earn money from a sponsorship with wallet company The Ridge.
Jacob falsely told investigators that engine failure forced him to parachute from the aircraft. In reality, he later retrieved the wreckage by helicopter, moved it to Lompoc Airport, cut it up, and disposed of the remains—all while denying knowledge of its whereabouts.
He entered a plea deal and was sentenced on December 4, 2023, to six months in federal prison, which he served at USP Lompoc from January 29 to June 12, 2024.
Despite the scandal, the FAA confirmed days after his sentencing that Jacob had obtained a new pilot certificate.
Regulations allow reinstatement one year after revocation if certain conditions—like retraining and no drug or alcohol offenses—are met.
