Trevor Jacob in his new video, “I Got My Pilots License Back! But Going To Prison…”
YouTube/Trevor Jacob
A YouTuber convicted after intentionally crashing his airplane for views can fly again.The FAA gave Trevor Jacob a temporary pilot certificate, allowing him to fly until he has to report to prison.FAA regulations let any pilot reapply for a license a year after it was revoked, except in cases with drug offenses.
The Federal Aviation Administration is letting a YouTuber pilot who intentionally crashed his plane for views fly again before he goes to prison.
The FAA has granted Trevor Jacob — a pro snowboarder, pilot, and extreme sports enthusiast whose stunts have earned him 143,000 YouTube followers — a temporary pilot certificate, even though he was sentenced to six months in prison earlier this week for intentionally crashing his own plane.
Jacob posted a video on his YouTube channel this week showing him flying a plane, with the title “I Got My Pilots License Back! But Going To Prison…”
Jacob’s temporary pilot certificate allows Jacob to legally fly a plane for 120 days while his application for a permanent license is considered, the FAA told Business Insider.
And because Jacob isn’t required to report to prison until the end of January, according to a court filing in the Central District of California, that gives him ample time to take to the skies once again.
The FAA first revoked Jacob’s license in April 2022 after an investigation found that he had “demonstrated a lack of care, judgment and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so [he] could record the footage of the crash.”
But despite Jacob’s license revocation and later conviction, the FAA told Business Insider that its regulations allow a pilot to reapply for their license just a year after it was taken away, unless a drug offense was involved.
Jacob crashed his plane in 2021, parachuting himself to the ground and visiting the scene of the crash while recording the entire saga for a YouTube video he titled “I Crashed My Airplane.”
He pleaded guilty in June to one count of destroying and concealing evidence with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation; prosecutors allege he removed the plane wreckage so investigators couldn’t find it.
Federal prosecutors say Jacob did the stunt to seal a sponsorship deal promoting a wallet company on his channel.
Jacob did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment.
