In December 2021, the internet aviation world was shaken when YouTuber Trevor Jacob posted a video titled “I crashed my plane”, in which his journey at the controls of a classic Taylorcraft over the mountains of Los Padres National Park in central California came to an abrupt halt after an alleged engine failure. He then decides to parachute.
The Taylorcraft, with no power and no pilot, starts to fall until it finally crashes into a mountain, as Jacob lands not far away to collect his belongings and then set off on a several-hour journey on foot to find some farmers, reports partner website Aviacionline. .
Everything was recorded by a series of Gopro cameras that Jacob had installed at different points inside and outside the Taylorcraft, a problem that in itself would not be remarkable as it is very common nowadays and many pilots do this.
Youtube
But the aviation community began to question other aspects, such as what would have led him to take off with a parachute, that the door was slightly open even before the alleged failure and that he didn’t even try to start the engine or find a place to land. This led to suspicions that it was all just a stunt to gain followers and visits to his YouTube channel.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States intervened, and it was finally learned that they had decided to revoke Travor Jacob’s pilot’s license. The aeronautical authority issued a communication stating that Jacob operated the aircraft “carelessly or recklessly, putting the life or property of third parties at risk”, further stating that the flight was operated “with the aim of causing the accident”.
He went out of his way to shoot down registered aircraft N29508 without even attempting to follow emergency procedures, nor contacting air traffic control to declare an emergency.
“He demonstrated a lack of care, judgment and responsibility in choosing to jump out of an aircraft just to be able to record the crash footage (…) of the care, judgment and responsibility that is required to have a license,” the FAA statement added.
As per Jacob’s recorded record (above), which he presented on YouTube, he was going to Mammoth, California, when his 1940 Taylorcraft two-seater failed, losing capacity to the motor. The plane was over unpleasant mountain territory with no spot to securely play out a crisis arrival when the prop cut out. Jacob asserts that he generally flew with a parachute and concluded his main choice was to bail.
The plane went down into a few brush and trees on the mountain, annihilating the airplane yet not much else. Without further ado a while later, Jacob arrived in a few thick dead thorns not a long way from his plane, experiencing minor cuts and scratches.
Subsequent to climbing to his airplane to survey the harm, he started moving down the mountain with no water, reporting the drop like clockwork to 60 minutes. Jacob claims he climbed for around five hours before he “lost trust” and was prepared to surrender. Be that as it may, hearing a cow somewhere out there restored his energy yet not his thirst.
As sunset showed up, Jacob started to feel the impacts of parchedness however continued to stroll along a dry stream bed. He in the end found a little stream similarly as night fell. Soon after extinguishing his thirst, he heard a vehicle and waved to two ranchers who had the option to take him to somewhere safe and secure.
Whether his story and video were genuine or simply a trick to get sees on YouTube depends on him to demonstrate to the FAA. It has all the earmarks of being a ton to surrender and get through only for more web notoriety. Be that as it may, individuals have done far stupider things just to get sees on YouTube.
What did the FAA find?
In a letter dated April 11, sent by the FAA to Jacob and got to by NYT, the government organization tracked down his activities “careless, jeopardizing life or property of another” and disregarding the bureaucratic avionics rules.
FAA made exceptional notice of Jacob’s parachute, which flagged a biased trick, and furthermore noticed that Jacob had opened the left side pilot entryway even before the motor had purportedly fizzled.
The FAA likewise noticed that Jacob put forth no attempts to restart the motor and, surprisingly, neglected to endeavor setting down the plane securely by floating, despite the fact that there were numerous places where he might have essentially attempted.
Discarding the destruction was viewed as one more confirmation that Jacob expected to crash this airplane exclusively to make a video out of it. It additionally shows that he “comes up short on level of care, judgment, and obligation expected of a testament holder.”