The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revoked YouTuber and former Olympian Trevor Jacob’s private pilot certificate after deciding that he purposefully crashed his plane for a video.
Mr Jacob was under investigation after he was accused of arranging a plane crash in December 2021 in order to create a film for social media views.
Mr Jacob may be seen parachuting out of a civilian plane that he claims malfunctioned while flying over the Los Padres National Forest in California in the video “I Crashed My Plane.”
Aviation enthusiasts questioned whether the crash was a genuine accident after seeing the video.
The FAA agreed that Mr Jacob’s donning a parachute was unusual in the first place.
“During this trip, you opened the left side pilot door before you stated the engine had failed,” the aviation agency wrote in a letter to the former Olympian.
Mr Jacob also made no attempt to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency, restart the engine, or look for a location to land, despite the fact that there were many areas within gliding range where he could have made a safe landing, according to the police.
Mr Jacob "violated federal aviation standards by flying his single-engine plane in a negligent or reckless manner, endangering the lives or property of others." "By jumping out of an aeroplane just to record the accident footage, you displayed a lack of care, judgement, and accountability," the FAA wrote in its letter.
As a result, Jacob’s private pilot certificate has apparently been cancelled by the FAA.
His authorization to operate any aircraft was also revoked, and he was cautioned that if he did not comply with the order, he could face further legal action.
Stay tuned and updated with Aviationa2z.