YouTube influencer intentionally crashed plane in California: FAA

LOS ANGELES - 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."

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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.

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