Many people do crazy things just for the views and money.
One of the more recent cases is when Trevor Daniel Jacob, 29, an American YouTuber, purposely crashed his plane for a video and a sponsorship.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, the YouTuber took off on his plane on 24 November 2021 for a solo flight. He had no intention to land the plane and prior to his take off, he had attached several cameras on the plane.
35 minutes into his flight, he ejected himself from the plane and took a video of himself parachuting out using his selfie stick and video camera.
Once he had landed on his feet, he hiked to the location of the crash and recovered the video recording of the crash from the cameras that were initially attached.
He informed the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on 26 November about the crash and agreed to help determine the crash location. He also needed to “provide both the coordinates of the downed plane and videos of the crash to NTSB investigators.”
However, he lied to the investigators and said that he did not know where the plane had crashed. On 10 December, he flew with a friend on a helicopter to the site of the wreckage and airlifted the plane to his pickup truck. It was later brought to a hangar.
In the proceeding days, he had cut up the crashed plane into smaller parts and deposited them in several trash bins in the airport. He admitted in his plea agreement that he did so in order to “obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash.”
On 23 December 2021, Trevor uploaded the video of the crash on YouTube while promoting a wallet as he had secured a sponsorship deal.
“Jacob admitted in his plea agreement that he intended to make money through the video.”
He also admitted that he lied to investigators that the engine had failed 35 minutes into the flight and as he could not find a safe landing location, he chose to parachute out. His pilot license was subsequently revoked in April 2022.
As he will be pleading guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation, Trevor Jacob will be facing a jail sentence of up to 20 years.
There’s nothing wrong with creating content, however, we should always remember to be rational about it. Also, please remember to not try this stunt at home as it may cause death.
Also read: Taiwanese Man Lies In Supermarket Freezer For TikTok Content, Causes Nuisance To Business Owner
