A YouTuber has been accused of crashing a plane on purpose for social media attention. The former Olympic snowboarder was involved in an accident and managed to film his escape from the faulty plane mid-air.
Discover our latest podcast
‘I Crashed My Plane’
Trevor Jacob, posted a video on December 24, in which he could be seen jumping from the plane using a parachute.
He then went on to show the aircraft crashing, all the while holding a selfie stick to capture the moment.
Describing it as ‘the most intense experience of my life’, Jacob managed to film the moment he launched himself out of the plane just when it was about to crash. He said in the video:
On November 24th, 2021, I took off to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to spread my best friend Johnny Strange’s ashes. I planned to document the entire trip and make a video sharing the adventure. During the flight, I experienced an engine failure over some mountains. There was no safe space to land.
The video titled, ‘I Crashed My Plane’, has been viewed 755,000 times, but people could not hide their suspicions. Some have been left wondering if he staged the crash for views and likes.
Did He Though?
Robert Perry, a flight instructor based at the Santa Ynez Airport, California, said there was something fishy about the crash. He pointed out one red flag which, to him, made the whole thing ‘suspect’.
He was speaking to the Santa Barbara Independent:
Wearing a parachute is difficult when you’re flying a plane that small. It would require removing the seat cushion or some other modification.
He also believed any pilot worth their salt, should have been able to land the plane safely, adding that the aircraft appeared to be in a state of disrepair.
From the looks of it, he could’ve guided that plane 15 or 20 more miles and landed it on more level ground. We never see inside of the cockpit. Not a single time while the engine is apparently malfunctioning, do we see anything in the cockpit. We only get the exterior shots.
Another person tweeted their suspicions, calling the entire thing, ‘disgusting and fake’.
He went up wearing a sport parachute which ZERO private pilots do, pitched the airplane down and jumped while making sure to film via a selfie stick. Disgusting & Fake. Source: My wife and best friend who are pilots
Comments have been disabled on the video and an investigation launched by the Federal Aviation Administration
