YouTube influencer intentionally crashed plane in California: FAA

He did it for clout. 

That's what the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is saying about YouTube influencer Trevor Jacob, whom they have determined crashed his plane on purpose for a video. As a result, the FAA has revoked Jacob's private pilot certificate. 

In an Emergency Order of Revocation letter to Jacob dated April 11, the FAA said in part, "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."

An investigation was conducted on Jacob, who has around 133,000 YouTube subscribers, after he was accused of staging a plane crash so that he could make a video about it for views.

In the video "I Crashed My Plane" posted last December, Jacob is seen parachuting out of a civilian aircraft — which he said experienced engine failure — while flying over the Los Padres National Forest in California. 


The FAA said in the letter that it seemed strange that Jacob was wearing a parachute in the first place. He had also apparently installed cameras on the outside of the plane.

In its letter to Jacob, the FAA added, "During this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed."

Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.

According to the investigation, Jacob made no attempt to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency, did not attempt restarting the engine, and did not look for a place to land, "even though there were multiple areas within gliding range in which you could have made a safe landing," the agency said.

Jacob has yet to make public comment.

His video has since been viewed over 1.7 million times.

Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.