Wednesday, December 01, 2021

Taylorcraft BL-65, N29508: Accident occurred November 24, 2021 near New Cuyama Airport (L88), Santa Barbara County, California

The Federal Aviation Administration has found that Trevor Jacob, a daredevil YouTuber who posted a video of himself last year parachuting out of a plane that he claimed had malfunctioned, purposely abandoned the aircraft and allowed it to crash into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California.

In a letter to Mr. Jacob on April 11, the FAA said he had violated federal aviation regulations and operated his single-engine plane in a “careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.”

The agency said it would immediately revoke Mr. Jacob’s private pilot certificate, effectively ending his permission to operate any aircraft.

Reached by email on Wednesday, Mr. Jacob appeared unaware of the FAA’s ruling and replied, “Where’d you get that information?”

He did not immediately respond to follow-up emails.

In a video posted on his YouTube channel last week, Mr. Jacob, a former snowboarding Olympian turned YouTuber with more than 100,000 subscribers, briefly addressed the airplane controversy, saying, “I can’t talk about it, per my attorney.”

“But the truth of that situation will come out with time,” he added, “and I’ll leave that at that.”

The FAA does not have the ability to prosecute; it can only revoke and suspend certificates and issue fines. The agency ordered Mr. Jacob to surrender his private pilot certificate and said he could face “further legal enforcement action” if he did not do so, including a civil penalty of up to $1,644 for each day that he did not return it.

A spokeswoman for the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a statement that the agency, which oversees the FAA, could “neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation” into Mr. Jacob’s flight on Nov. 24.

A 13-minute video of the crash, titled “I Crashed My Plane,” has more than 1.7 million views. It shows Mr. Jacob piloting a small 1940 Taylorcraft plane with several cameras attached, recording the sweeping views of Los Padres National Forest.

Mr. Jacob said in a statement in January that he had flown that day to spread the ashes of his best friend, Johnny Strange, over the top of a Sierra Nevada mountain. Mr. Strange died in 2015 while BASE jumping, an extreme sport in which people parachute from a fixed object or structure, such as a cliff.

In the video, Mr. Jacob unleashes a flurry of expletives when the propeller stops spinning. He opens the plane’s door and jumps out with a parachute, abandoning the plane as he descends toward the forest, a selfie stick in hand to record it all.

“I’m just so happy to be alive,” he says after landing in prickly brush. He documented his hike through the forest, which, he says in the video, lasted at least six hours until a farmer found him at dusk. Earlier, he had found the wrecked, mangled plane in a thicket of dried shrubs.

Almost immediately after he posted the video on Dec. 24, viewers and aviation experts expressed doubts online over his portrayal of the crash. It was orchestrated, they claimed, for views and likes, and several steps Mr. Jacob took, such as wearing a parachute in the first place, were evidence of a preconceived publicity stunt.

Mr. Jacob turned off comments for the video.

The FAA agreed about the parachute in its letter, which it released in response to a request from The New York Times, and pointed out other revealing details that officials had uncovered during an investigation.

“During this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed,” the FAA wrote.

Before jumping out of the plane, the agency said, Mr. Jacob made no attempt to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency, did not try to restart the engine by increasing airflow over the propeller and failed to look for a place to safely land, “even though there were multiple areas within gliding range in which you could have made a safe landing.”

After the crash, Mr. Jacob also “recovered and then disposed of the wreckage,” the FAA said.

“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,” the agency said. “Your egregious and intentional actions on these dates indicate that you presently lack the degree of care, judgment and responsibility required of a certificate holder.”

https://www.nytimes.com 


This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. 

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident. 

Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Van Nuys, California


Location: New Cuyama, California
Accident Number: WPR22LA049
Date and Time: November 24, 2021, 10:00 Local
Registration: N29508
Aircraft: Taylorcraft BL-65 
Injuries: 1 Minor
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Taylorcraft 
Registration: N29508
Model/Series: BL-65
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built:
Operator: On file 
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: 
Condition of Light:
Observation Facility, Elevation: 
Observation Time:
Distance from Accident Site: 
Temperature/Dew Point:
Lowest Cloud Condition:
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: / ,
Lowest Ceiling: 
Visibility:
Altimeter Setting: 
Type of Flight Plan Filed:
Departure Point:
Destination:

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 Minor 
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries:
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Minor 
Latitude, Longitude: 34.936745,-119.61189 (est)

142 comments:

  1. The pilot posted footage of the accident on his youtube channel. On the basis of the large production setup and effort, together with the seeming lack of any attempts to locate a suitable emergency landing site, some have raised the suspicion that the incident was intentional and staged.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And him happening to wear a parachute with a skydiving harness when he never does so in any other video.

      Delete
    2. The titles of his other videos tell all that you need to know.

      He should not have kept in the sections of video showing the flat sand bed area visible at 5:07, a great spot where he could have landed that plane.

      Steering his parachute to allow a short hike for recovery of the gopro's from the wreck is another tell.

      The tubers are eating him alive in the comments there. That's the second intentionally tuber-destroyed Taylorcraft - the diesel nut guy brutalized the other one.

      Delete
    3. I simply don't buy this: plenty of Ok landing spots for the low-speed Talorcraft ! He didn't give a rap about the airplane and had a pre-prepared flair for Drama.

      Delete
    4. him having fire extinguishers strapped to his legs, kind of makes it obvious what he was planning on doing.

      Delete
  2. This requires investigation, there are many things wrong with the chain of events in this crash. The most alarming and revealing is that the pilots door is ajar prior to the engine failure. Clearly seen at timestamp 2:42 in the video. https://youtu.be/vbYszLNZxhM?t=162

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    1. I would say it is more alarming that you can see that he has two fire extinguishers fastened to the lower part of his legs under his pants. 100% staged.

      Delete
  3. In another video he mentioned how he was suicidal after his girlfriend broke up with him. Someone needs to find his AME to get his ticket yanked.

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  4. Sad to see a perfectly good aircraft messed up by someone who didn't deserve it. There are parents who aren't supposed to be parents and likewise here there are "pilots" who shouldn't be within 10 miles of an airport and a plane, unless as passengers in a part 121.

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    Replies
    1. I wouldn't want this person as a pax on my 121 flight, either.

      Delete
    2. Don't want him as a part 121 passenger on my plane.

      Delete
  5. I cannot find a preliminary report on the NTSB website for this crash, and normally those are posted within a few days. Where did Kathryn's Report find it reported initially? There is much about the circumstances that make this event seem dubious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Federal Aviation Administration preliminary accident and incident report.
      As of today, the National Transportation Safety Board hasn't released their preliminary report.

      Delete
    2. KR captured the info, but most people are probably not aware that FAA preliminary accident and incident report notices entered into the the Aviation Safety Information Analysis And Sharing (ASIAS) system are only displayed for the most recent 10 days that had entries made.

      DuckDuckGo did show a cache result from search string
      FAA ASIAS N29508 by responding with the asias URL for a 29 November notice, and DDG's text summary description snippet under that search result hinted at the details before cutting off:
      N29508: Aircraft Make: TAYLORCRAFT: Aircraft Model: BL-65: Event Type: ACCIDENT:...

      Searching other N numbers for DDG caching worked similarly, but not for much further than 30 days back. The pages load without any detail in the ASIAS response to those older DDG-remembered URLs, so no additional info beyond the partial snippet can be recovered by doing that.

      Some example searches for past ASIAS entries:
      FAA ASIAS N6209U (returned 26 Nov asias URL + snippet)
      FAA ASIAS N310JA (returned 21 Nov asias URL + snippet)

      Delete
    3. The NTSB site has the report in their database (#WPR22LA049), but the report status is "in work". I suspect that it will be a while before a preliminary report is issued due to the suspicion of the incident. Unfortunately, the FAA, who does not investigate accidents but looks for violation of FARs, does not take kindly on these kind of deliberate violations of recklessness.

      Delete
  6. and his "youtube channel" terminated for "Harmful or dangerous acts"
    the bar is set high, and three strikes usually applies to violations of their vague and changing "Community Standards."

    ReplyDelete
  7. FAA Registry shows the aircraft is registered to Laura Smith on 05/03/2021. (maybe the disgruntled girlfriend ??) Some postings indicated he was having "girlfriend issues" Maybe retribution??

    https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N29508

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aviationdb.com shows initial registration to Smith was in 2015.

      Delete
    2. I can verify that his ex-girlfriend is not Laura Smith, but I do not think his ex deserves to be named here. She didn't do anything wrong.

      Delete
    3. Check again. It's been updated since the incident. Yet another red flag, IMO.

      Delete
    4. The co-owner was listed as Eugene A. (Andy) Bibber of Lincoln, CA, who runs Flight Adventure. Andy has a blog entry on the FA website talking about what a nice little aircraft it was.

      Delete
  8. Pilot conveniently has a parachute on and bails on an aircraft within seconds after an engine failure, not bothering to trim for best glide speed, looking for a suitable landing area, (I saw several) squawking 7700, or broadcasting on guard. Oh, and taking the handheld GoPro as he bails while we get footage from a chase plane.

    Yeah, I hate people sometimes…

    ReplyDelete
  9. I watched the YouTube video. The guy sounds like Mr. Bill from the old SNL skits. He is whining constantly. To an untrained ear like I have, the narration seems very contrived.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lots of the storyline seems contrived. The water drinking scene at 12:35 where lips just barely touch the surface of the stream with no actual water intake was particularly unconvincing.

      Delete
    2. Who, but someone with serious Narcissistic Personality Disorder, would film themselves drinking stream water whilst in an emergency survival situation?

      Delete
  10. Is there someone that has evidence that the plane actually crashed? The final crash sequence looks like it's an RC plane that crashes. And the wreckage footage is not really good. Except this site, there is no no docunentation of any plane crash. My theory is that he bailed out, but that someone else was behind and crouching that flew the plane. And that the final crash is filmed from a RC plane. Does anyone have any official sources?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RE: "Except this site, no documentation"

      What you are missing is an understanding of how FAA initial report entries into ASIAS works, and that the date when KR put this report up of 1 December was the result of the FAA's 29 November notice about the N29508 crash.

      When you look for ASIAS notices, only the most recent 10 days are displayed. The 29 November notice for N29508 scrolled off already, but KR did the work of creating this posting from the notice while it was up.

      More info about official reporting was posted already up-thread:
      http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2021/12/taylorcraft-bl-65-n29508-accident.html?showComment=1640465310766#c9131852204414202366

      Delete
    2. Did you see in his video where he walks up to the crash? Around the 8:30 mark. It looks like the same airplane to me, but I haven't had time to really analyze it yet.

      Delete
    3. No reason to believe that the real airplane is not there.

      Change playback speed to .25 and look beyond the tail of the resting wreck at 8:22-8:25 and 8:33, noticing the light-colored area at upper right on the far ridge. Compare to the same area visible at 5:04-5:05 and 5:12-5:14 as the plane is going in.

      Delete
    4. OP here. There are no news articles at all about a plane crashing from then. Only new ones that are piling on the info from the video.

      If you set the speed to 0.25 and check the crash, it looks like the plane is very small when hitting the bushes. That would mean that the plane landed in something similar to a rainforest. Check these images: https://imgur.com/a/LDTle6F
      Compare it to the grass height of the wreck.

      There are other minor differences during the crash scene. The speck of dirt under the horizontal stabilizer looks different, the same as the dirt of the aft wing strut.

      Delete
    5. News articles originate from local first responders being called. Lack of news reports at the time that a person gets themselves out of the back country without involving SAR resources is no surprise.

      Interpreting video can bring incorrect belief that a plane is an RC model when it is not. The facebook video linked below is of a full size, real aircraft, but many would not believe so until they see the rollout after landing at the end:

      https://www.facebook.com/nikofilmz/videos/3012642499021903/?t=6

      Delete
  11. I've flown over this area numerous times and due to the mountainous terrain, I'm always on the lookout for emergency landing areas. I can confirm there are plenty of good ones. I'll post a google map later, but it seems pretty obvious the video was framed to not show any of the good landing areas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's a google-pinned map of the approximate wreckage location. The area nearby at the bottom of the valley on the East side of Manzana Schoolhouse Camp wasn't concealed by his framing, easy to recognize from the video.

      https://www.google.com/maps/place/34%C2%B048'53.0%22N+119%C2%B057'35.8%22W/@34.8223537,-119.9857254,5014m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x9a90f47d8ffab3e1!8m2!3d34.814726!4d-119.959944

      Delete
    2. Not shown in the video, but he was almost directly over this nice 1700x1400 foot flat meadow that would be a perfect landing spot. https://goo.gl/maps/Yz9z5ugdBCxL4ow2A
      or within easy gliding distance to the fields less than 5 miles to the east and south.

      Delete
  12. Just take a look at the 4th picture. Would you fly with this guy as a pilot? #mental

    ReplyDelete
  13. According to the Neurologic Rehabilitation Institute at Brookhaven Hospital, T. Jacob has suffered at least 39 traumatic brain injuries as of 3 years ago. At the age of 20 he said he suffered at least 25 brain injuries in that span of time; more than one for each year he has been alive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The AME had a lot to go over with that background to approve a medical.

      Delete
    2. Technically, that is Jacob's claim in an NRI press release, not anything that NRI medically diagnosed. (And if they did medically diagnose it, they couldn't publicly release that information due to HIPAA.). So whether it is actually true or an attention-seeking brag by someone who is obviously mentally unstable is anyone's guess.

      It is interesting (shocking?) to note that the only Trevor Jacob in the Airmen registry has a *FIRST CLASS* medical.
      TREVOR D JACOB
      Airman opted-out of releasing address
      Medical Information:
      Medical Class: First Medical Date: 11/2018

      I get that doing an internet search on an applicant is not in the AME procedures, but this guy must have done some major lying on his application to get a first class medical.

      Delete
    3. I always got 1st class medicals when I was younger. It's not that hard if you are healthy. I now use basic Med. The 1st and 2nd class medicals are good for one year (if under 40) and then they revert to 3rd class medicals when the 1st and 2nd class expires. For him, his third class medical is all he needs for a private pilot and is good for 5 years (being under 40). We don't know that he has any major medical issues.

      Delete
    4. https://www.teamusa.org/us-ski-and-snowboard/athletes/trevor-jacob

      Delete
    5. I got a 1st class recently because the FAA is giving 1st class a priority over class 3. I got deferred and after a month of back and forth had my cert. Guys who file for class 3 have been waiting up to 9 months for answers. I'm on a SI since I'm over 40 class 1 is every 6 months ill go basic medical.

      Delete
  14. "Hi! My name is Trevor Jacob. I am a psychology major​."

    ReplyDelete
  15. His girlfriend was smart to leave him!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lots of "gems" on his Youtube channel. In his "Scary Flying Stories" 8 minutes in he talks about getting turbulence (probably a mountain wave) at 5,000 ft in a mountainous region and he makes the idiotic decision of diving to 500 AGL and trying to land on a freeway. Who gave this guy his license??? The proper procedure would be to slow down below Va and perhaps start a climb to get out of the mechanical turbulence. Diving down means your aircraft is likely well above Va and could suffer an airframe failure if you hit worse turbulence, also in a mountainous region that mechanical turbulence also probably is causing downdrafts that will smash you into the ground pretty quickly if you only have 500 feet margin to recover.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You guys do realize that his entire goal with this charade was not to be liked by the internet community, but to get more clicks, views, attention and ad revenue on his channel. He is probably loving all the negative comments and every outraged viewer that shares a link to his video is furthering his goal. Also, angry internet comments are not going to sway the NTSB or FAA into investigating this or not. So if you really want to punish this POS, then:
    1) Stop sharing a link to his video. If you want to point something out, use screenshots like KR did or better yet, upload a copy of the video and link to that, to rob him of views and ad revenue.
    2) Report the video to youtube to get it removed to stop him from getting financial gain from his illegal activities
    3) Complain to his sponsor about their association with a criminal
    4) Report your concerns to the FSDO. If the FAA launched an investigation of that Premier 1 driver youtuber because someone complained that in a video he reported clear of a runway a second or two too early, you can be they will investigate this if you complain through the proper channels.

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    Replies
    1. Don't bury the FSDO with nuisance calls - the accident was entered in FAA's ASIAS on 29 November, so they are already have it in their job jar.

      Delete
    2. I think should be broadcast to a national and international audience. This "accident" is a good news tip with specific and clear evidence, not just a hunch or speculation. This tip is newsworthy, with real-world consequences. You would allow news reporters to pursue this story that needs to be told.

      Delete
    3. There is nothing newsworthy that needs to be told about an idiot trying desperately to get attention. The news could definitely run this story but clearly they have decided its yawn worthy. I guess Jacob should have had Matty Guthmiller make a fluff video for him like Guthmiller did for David Lesh after Lesh also intentionally crashed his aircraft.

      Delete
    4. "they have decided its yawn worthy
      Not true!
      I have already been in contact with some of the news media outlets. They told me they haven't heard about the plane crash, but will be doing their very own investigation story into it.

      Delete
    5. Daily Mail will get it done. They did Lesh's Bo ditching:

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7384077/Pilot-took-selfies-waiting-rescued-plane-crashed-denies-stunt.html

      Delete
    6. Planes crash every day. Just because a washed-up has-been snowboarder who got a few too many knocks in the head jumped out of this one before it hit a mountain doesn't make it news. No one will be talking about this a week from now. Except the FAA. The FAA will remember and throw this douche in jail. There are already several other copies of his video out there on youtube, so he also won't be getting the clicks anymore.

      Delete
    7. Tabloids love a hoax that has eye-catching video, but potential backlash related to knocks on the head being a possible factor may make them decide it's not worth the risk to run the story.

      FAA probably won't do much more than cancel his cert and deny a later re-issue. His biggest risk of jail may be from state or federal agencies that have been involved in dealing with California wildfires. They may end up competing over the opportunity to be the one to make an example out of him.

      Delete
    8. His status an a Team USA athlete would make it "Film at 11" worthy. I mean he has been to the Olympics and all.

      Delete
  18. Reckless and careless operation of an aircraft is 10 years in the slammer and 250k fine... how about the feds enforce that to the fullest for a change. No deals no probation. Just 10 years and the fine... oh and yank all his licenses and ban him from ever reapplying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably would just be a certificate revoke, if hazard compares to this 2010 example of buzzing people at a beach @ fifteen feet AGL. Can't find any criminal charges on that one.

      Just checked airmen registry and that 2010 beach-buzz pilot shows up there with his 2009 medical and "None" under certificates, so he never got his cert back. You can try after a year, but they can deny.

      http://avstop.com/news_june_2010/faa_revoked_pilots_license_for_buzzing_crowed_beach.htm

      Delete
    2. http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/01/its-diamond-da40-n134ps-again-this-time.html

      https://youtu.be/n9jcJhIxoMc

      Delete
    3. David Wisner, the lunatic that buzzed Sag Harbor back in April, still has his cert according to the database and the plane still registered to him is flying regularly, although I guess it's possible someone else is flying it.
      https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N4868N/history
      https://sagharborexpress.com/low-flyer-pleads-not-guilty-to-reckless-endangerment/

      Delete
    4. It took FAA 13 months before revocation of Martha Lunken’s pilot certificates after she flew under a bridge in Ohio in March 2020. A camera captured her plane's passage, she was notified a few weeks later that the FAA was on it, but flew for another year.

      Looks like Wisner's 182 operated out of Brookhaven during part of the 90 day suspension when he was banned from the local airport, but the 182 has since returned to the field. No reason to think he is not still flying it while the system processes the case.

      Lunken and Wisner weren't performing a stunt for views. It will be interesting to see what the FAA decides to do in this case.

      Delete
    5. Destruction of an aircraft in flight is even worse:

      18 U.S. Code § 32 - Destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities

      (a) Whoever willfully—
      (1) sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce;

      ("special aircraft jurisdiction" means an aircraft in flight)

      Violations are punishable by fines and/or imprisonment up to 20 years.

      Delete
  19. Aircraft insurance fraud and federal accident investigation crime. If he gets off with a light sentence people should flood that court with letters and emails of protest. I will be one of them! Absolutely disgusting excuse for a human being.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Betcha there was no insurance. Fairly good chance the guy made no effort to register the plane. The current registered owner is the same since 2015. And the Rans S-21 in his other videos has not yet been registered to him, still pending initial to his name. N63BG.

      https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N63BG

      Delete
    2. Aircraft insurance fraud only if you claim money for the crashed plane.
      Similar to how you can play destruction derby with your cars at privately owned location. If you don't claim insurance for it, it's your own loss and nothing criminal at all.

      The only criminal thing I see is endangering persons on the ground. But shooting a rifle into the air seems similar risky, yet very few people get prosecuted for that.

      Delete
  20. What a lucky guy to have a parachute right there when you need one. Flying over that treacherous terrain with no possible landing sites either. Unbelievable luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But he said he always flies with a parachute...
      (checks other videos)..... Oh. never mind. /s

      Delete
    2. He would probably be the only guy in the world that does that. Not real comfy to wear one while flying and you couldn't be sure you had enough time to grab it and get hooked up in an emergency if it was in the back luggage bay.

      Delete
    3. Also what a coincidence that he had all those GoPros attached to a plane for just a normal afternoon flight.

      Delete
    4. "with no possible landing sites either"

      Except there are plenty of large, flat landing spots along that river, within view of cockpit. He obviously never intended to land that plane when he took off :)

      Delete
  21. Somethings not right with the registration. It's listed as a BL-65 but obviously it's a BC-65.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jugs are out in the breeze. Don't know if these references have things mixed up, but see what you make of them:

      https://www.mncppc.org/1641/1939-Taylorcraft-BL-65

      https://ingeniumcanada.org/aviation/artifact/taylorcraft-bc-65

      Delete
    2. The B series Taylorcraft had several variants. BL-65, BC-65 and even BF-65. The L, C, and F denoted the engine. L for Lycoming, C for Continental and F for Franklin. In time, most of the B series' engines were replaced with the Continental 65 HP engines. They were a much better engine. I'm guessing that the plane was still designated as a BL-65.

      Delete
  22. In the video, the prop was stopped when he jumped out, but it started up again as the airplane descended. Presumably, he shut off fuel and/or ignition, then slowed the plane enough for the prop to stop. Once the airspeed picked up, the prop started windmilling.

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    Replies
    1. You can be certain that the reason the door was already opened was because the clip shown was "take 2" for getting the prop stopped. He had to get the prop stationary to convince his gullible but faithful tuber fans that "It was legitaf, not sus at all".

      Delete
  23. Not the first time. Marcus Schrenker a Financial Advisor who was running scams, stealing millions from clients. Under investigation and about to be arrested. January 11, 2009 he faked his death by parachuting from his Turboprop single-engine Piper Meridian (tail number N428DC). He safely parachuted and had made plans on the ground. He was caught and charged. His first conviction was for faking crash and destroying aircraft. He paid $34,000 to Coast Guard and $871,000 to lien holder of aircraft, plus 4 yrs and 3 mo jail time. Second conviction was for financial fraud and ordered to pay restitution and 10 yrs in jail to be concurrently with Federal chargers related to aircraft. He only served 5 yrs. He completed parole in 2019 and free. Not sure he paid off his debts from $20M in civil lawsuits.

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    1. Nice summary, would add that his experience of not dumping cabin pressure before opening the door, getting hung up on the plane and dragged before getting clear make for an interesting read:

      http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2011/11/one-on-one-with-marcus-schrenker-piper.html

      More:
      http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/08/ponzi-schemer-marcus-schrenkers-stunt.html

      Delete
  24. Timothy Buck

    1.) Look at how the airplane pitches over into a steep descent as he jumps out. Obviously NOT trimmed for best glide, and in fact obviously trimmed for steep nose down descent. He was sitting right about over the CG, so exiting the airplane would not cause it to nose over like that unless it was trimmed steep nose down.

    2.) I have about 50 hours in T-crafts. He could have easily landed that T-craft on that river bed shown in the video and walked away.

    3.) Who bails out of a disabled airplane with a selfie stick in their hand? Who shifts the selfie stick from one hand to the other to get a better view of the "disabled" airplane? Who even brings a selfie stick with a gopro on it on a Taylorcraft flight? In a real emergency, who goes to that length to document the whole thing on video?

    4.) This guy is just a terrible actor! You don't sense any REAL fear in his voice, even though he is telling us how scared he is.

    5.) Isn't it interesting that the GoPro's just happened to be mounted on the left side of the airplane so that we can get the best view of him bailing out?

    6.) at the end he shows close ups of his bruises and poison oak rashes including the left side of his neck 3 days after the crash as he is driving up to Mammoth to spread Johnny's ashes. The VERY NEXT Morning he videos himself just before takeoff, and there is a clear view of the left side of his neck with no bruises or rash at all.

    7.) He claims he never flies without a parachute, but there are numerous videos on his youtube channel of him flying his own airplane without a parachute, so that is clearly a lie.

    8.) Why wasn't he flying is own airplane in this video? There are numerous videos of him flying his own airplane on his youtube channel, and this is not that airplane. This T-Craft is registered to someone else.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Installed cameras in the cockpit but didn't secure the starboard wing tank cutoff you see flopping around in the cabin.

      Just making one flight, let it flop around...

      Delete
  25. oh puleeeeeeeeaze...who bails out in an emergency egress with their headphones on...?

    ReplyDelete
  26. beautiful old plane that had lasted this long. insurance money and fame. what a POS.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Well he said he crashed his plane
    he did not declare an emergency
    he did not contact ATC
    he notified nobody
    he crashed his plane
    there is no specific law that says "you cant crash your plane"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 18 US Code § 32 - Destruction of aircraft Would probably cover it.

      Delete
    2. There are also plenty of related laws that were violated. Illegal dumping of hazardous chemicals, littering, probably some laws about taking an action that could cause a wildfire. If he lies in any of the conversations with the FAA/NTSB, that's a felony. Trust me, when G-men run into a d-bag like this, they delight in finding inventive charges to lock them up.

      Delete
    3. Forestry people, after seeing another bunch of burned out homes in Colorado, out to be aggressively pursuing this type of prank.

      Delete
    4. § 91.13 Careless or reckless operation.
      (a) Aircraft operations for the purpose of air navigation. No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.

      (b) Aircraft operations other than for the purpose of air navigation. No person may operate an aircraft, other than for the purpose of air navigation, on any part of the surface of an airport used by aircraft for air commerce (including areas used by those aircraft for receiving or discharging persons or cargo), in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.

      Delete
  28. I don't know, cool idea, but, I mean, come on, he could have used a few more cameras and perhaps put a charge with remote detonation somewhere in the plane, ripping off the wings first and then erupting in a giant fireball, preferably at sunset. Oh, and take a cute puppy or kitty along and make sure it gets safely out - but not too early!
    Unfortunately what he did leaves behind the impression of an amateur.
    And THAT will have the largest impact on his views, likes and subscriptions. Great idea, terrible planning and execution. Not being media savvy enough will dearly cost him many, many clicks.
    \i

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He could have had his girlfriend tied up in the right seat and three flares taped up to look like dynamite tied to a gas can full of water. He lights the fuse and as he jumps out he utters profanity and laughs on the way down. She miraculously gets untied, starts the engine, buzzes him a couple of times and flies off. Now that would be something to watch!

      Delete
    2. Naw. She gets herself untied, then collapses his parachute before flying off. 😁

      Delete
  29. Is this Trevor Jacob commenting on his own analysis of what He "should have done", or someone else who needs immediate Psychiatric intervention? "Great Idea" SICK!

    ReplyDelete
  30. NTSB added the accident to their database, accident number: WPR22LA049, N29508: Taylorcraft / BL-65

    ReplyDelete
  31. He wearing a wrist camera aren't those made for sky diving? Who flies in a plane with a wrist go pro mount. Obviously staged could have started a fire easily. I bet he ran it out of gas on purpose oil can still start a fire.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Santa Barbara newsletter story includes talk of unconfirmed helicopter extraction of the wreck.

    https://www.independent.com/2022/01/04/did-youtuber-trevor-jacob-crash-his-plane-in-the-los-padres-on-purpose/

    NTSB preliminary notes that the NTSB did not travel to the scene of this accident, but no discussion text is included.

    https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/104325/pdf

    ReplyDelete
  33. Registration appears to have been updated a few days, with Trevor now listed as the registered owner as of 3 Jan.

    The timing of ownership transfer would seem to be one more red flag, no?

    ReplyDelete
  34. No, that in itself is not necessarily a red flag. It can take several months (usually at least 3) for the FAA to process the application and getting it into the system. It seems doubtful that the application was sent in after the "accident".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried to be succinct but didn't explain very well - I assumed there's a delay between transaction and recording it in "the system." I did not mean to suggest the fact that the processing of the application occurred after the incident.

      My only point is that it seems, based on the recently updated registration, that this plane was a very recent purchase for him - only to shortly be followed up by this incident. Thus, one might assume he bought the plane solely for the purpose of pulling off this asinine stunt and destroying it in the process.

      Delete
    2. Can't say that the Taylorcraft was a very recent purchase without noticing the registration of his Rans-21.

      No doubt that the Taylorcraft registration just worked it's way through the processing lag, but look at how the Rans S-21 in his other videos has not yet been registered to him, still pending initial to his name. N63BG.

      https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N63BG

      Delete
  35. Trent Palmer did a response video. It is done well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Palmer needs his own clicks - seized the opportunity...

      Delete
  36. You guys may find this interesting. A flight simmer went to location in the sim to have a look at the terrain and try dead stick himself.

    https://youtu.be/_TJ1id-tbD0?t=409

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A non-simmer went to the location and pulled the throttle to idle. He was able to make it to KIZA. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCpO10AuV3s

      Delete
  37. The specific location of the initial impact of the plane was 34.814769432159395, -119.96035479140825 to within about 25'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you visit the crash site on the ground to determine the specific location? If you did, is the story about the wreck being taken out true?

      Those numbers map-pinned:
      http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q=loc:34.814769432159395+-119.96035479140825

      Trimmed down to six decimal places and map-pinned:
      http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q=loc:34.814769+-119.960354

      That pins about 100 feet from a visual approximation made in the
      Sunday, December 26, 2021 at 4:18:00 PM EST post.

      Would be informative to know how the 25 foot accuracy was determined.

      Delete
  38. Contacted the sponsor of his video and here's the answer:

    "We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We sponsor a great deal of creators and unfortunately do not always see their videos before they are posted. Since becoming aware of this incident, we have requested that The Ridge be removed from his video."

    ReplyDelete
  39. I see that there is no longer any mention of Ridge on the video or on his channel at all.

    There is on the Taking off channel a video that the host talks with a pilot/mechanic who flew and maintained the plane in the past, and contacted the previous owner, who said that Jacob said that he "was going to do something special with the plane", when he purchased it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. His edit/re-upload also cut out the "no safe place to land" content and turned off comments. Commenters are piling on to his scary plane stories video now as a place to make crash comments.

      Delete
  40. Someone spotted what looks like a fire extinguisher in his pants leg near the ankle in the bailout footage.

    Add "tape a fire extinguisher to your leg before takeoff" to the always fly with a parachute claims.

    See the well defined outline in the pants cuff at 1:09 to 1:12, here:
    https://youtu.be/dmwCffyZJhI?t=70

    Forestry officials ought to be able to assert "intentional crash with premeditated expectation of fire" from that. No way did he secure that to his leg after the alleged engine out event began.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A good lawyer could effectively dispute that, but if it goes to trial, the jury might believe it's a fire extinguisher. As if that would have made any difference in a fire there during a hyper-critical draught.

      Delete
    2. Doesn't even have to be a fire extinguisher in order to establish pre-meditated planning. Looking at left/right sole patterns vs. what the video points out, both cuffs contained objects, which is inconsistent with an unplanned event. No time to strap or tape objects there during an "emergency".

      "I put my aircraft's fire extinguisher in my jacket, in hopes of chute landing nearby. It was too small to do much, but at least I was being responsible" might help as a cover story, but not when you can see objects in pants cuffs that had to be strapped or taped in place in advance.

      Delete
  41. I'm surprised his video is still up on youtube as I type this on 15 Jan. Is he still cashing in on it? If it is a video of a crime in progress, is it in violation of youtube's community guidelines? I don't know any of the answers but it's all bizarre.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The video was recently edited to remove certain parts, one of which is the sponsorship w/ the wallet company.

      Delete
  42. Apparently the perp is now on TikTok... just saw a segment of him leaving the plane featured as a 10 second clip.
    I so wished his next stunt would be to drink pure sulfuric acid... as idiots like that will do anything to get "views".
    Darwin awards go hand in hand with Insta "influencers".

    ReplyDelete
  43. Story has caught DM's notice, should be lots more views from that:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10424411/Olympic-snowboarder-turned-YouTuber-investigated-FAA-crashing-plane-clicks.html

    ReplyDelete
  44. YouTube and Facebook is part of the downfall of society.

    ReplyDelete
  45. That isn't the aircraft he usually flies, it's a plane he bought a month before the crash. When purchasing the aircraft, he told the owner he had something special in mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Inspiration may have been a June 2021 Taylorcraft video titled:
      "I bought a plane and accidentally crashed in 3 minutes", which got millions of views.

      Delete
    2. To be fair, WhistlinDiesel would've gotten millions of views regardless of what he did with his. At least he wasn't stupid enough to attempt what this jackass did

      Delete
  46. Never speak in terms of absolutes, but… This is absolutely 100% done on purpose. He deserves all the harsh consequences he has coming.

    ReplyDelete
  47. If this isn't premeditated criminal intent, then such a thing doesn't exist.

    ReplyDelete
  48. View count at 1.4 million today, Inside Edition's video probably helped him get there. Turns out he was right in expecting to hit it big.

    ReplyDelete
  49. He could have literally started a forest fire and killed hundreds of people and animals, his plane could have glided over and killed someone or crashed into a house. He should go to jail for endangering the public.

    ReplyDelete
  50. This maroon should be taken out of my society, soonest

    ReplyDelete
  51. Parody video demonstrates fire extinguishers strapped to both legs:
    https://youtu.be/ZegkTKzDcg0

    ReplyDelete
  52. TJ's actions goes against the grain of most GA pilots. Unfortunately he misused a piece of machinery that most in the GA community considers akin to a best friend. His actions have achieved his goal. I hope and pray that his actions lands him into a deep financial hole that will be impossible for him to escape. Maybe the other Social Media platforms will be wise to this narcissist and they will prevent him from using their platforms to enrich himself.

    ReplyDelete
  53. My desire is for the DA to use this case and the POS pilot as a benchmark to prevent others from doing the same. I agree with the previous poster, that the idiot should fall into a deep financial hole. Maybe what funds recovered to go to the AOPA safety foundation.
    The POS could have easily sparked a fire and cost the state millions. I fly the Helios that drop retardant, so I’m acutely aware of the fire dangers and the destruction the fires cause. For the moron to be financially rewarded, inexcusable.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I'd encourage anyone who believes this to be an intentional, premeditated act to flag this video on youtube as one of a crime in progress in the hope of having it removed, thus eliminating his ability to continue profiting from it.

    I've done it once already. About to do it again.

    ReplyDelete
  55. This POS needs to go to jail.

    ReplyDelete
  56. My dad had a Taylorcraft. It was the first airplane that he let me fly, in 1970. September to be exact. It hurts me to think that this self-absorbed, narcissist destroyed an eighty year-old piece of history for his personal self-aggrandizement.

    A sad story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Back in the 60's I had a Piper J4 cub coupe I used to see if you could open the door on it and the only way you could do it was to stall it and try to get it wide enough to get out I don't think it could be done with a chute on. Of course I never shut the engine down it looks fishy to me.

      Delete
  57. https://news.yahoo.com/youtube-influencer-pilot-trevor-jacob-081244943.html

    ReplyDelete
  58. That aircraft first flew in 1939 - it was 83-years old! It deserved a far better ending than that.

    ReplyDelete
  59. A link to the FAA certificate revocation, from AvWeb.com:

    https://s30121.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Jacob-EOR-2022WP010003-FOIA_Redacted.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  60. What a complete flute. The revocation is hopefully just the initial phase of punishment.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Red Bull should hire him to simplify their stunts and save some money setting up the next one. Or a helicopter long line company can use him as a "our services recommended by" reference. After all, John Hinkley is doing music performances now, proving that name recognition opens doors.

    ReplyDelete