Trevor Jacob (born August 6, 1993) is an American

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

competitor,

extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

athlete,

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

, and former aircraft pilot. He represented the United States in snowboarding in the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. In December 2021, he posted a YouTube video in which he parachutes out of a light aircraft claiming engine failure. The

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

revoked his pilot certificate after determining that he had crashed the plane for the sole purpose of filming it.

Athletic career

A native of

Mammoth Lakes, California Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

,Small town, big Olympians; Mammoth Lakes home base for six Sochi athletes
Retrieved November 27, 2016. Jacob competed at the

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He made it to the semifinal of the men's snowboard cross, where he failed to qualify for the final. He lost by inches to fellow American Alex Deibold, who went on to earn the bronze medal. Jacob ultimately finished 9th. Jacob competed in snowboard cross at the

Winter X Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...

in 2014, 2015, and 2016, with a best finish of 5th place in the 2016 competition. In addition to snowboarding, Jacob has participated in skateboarding, surfing,

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

riding,

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

, and was part of

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, an ...

Nitro Circus ''Nitro Circus'' is an "action sport collective" led by Travis Pastrana, featuring his friends and him traveling around the world riding dirtbikes, BASE jumping, and performing stunts. Co-founded in 2003 by Pastrana, Nitro Circus has become a m ...

collective.

YouTube

Jacob produces videos for

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and has become known for

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

, aviation and snowboarding content. By January 2022, his YouTube channel had over 100,000 subscribers.

Airplane crash

Jacob owned a Taylorcraft BL-65, a 1940 vintage single-engine

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft c ...

, registration ''N29508''. On November 24, 2021, he took off from

Lompoc Airport Lompoc Airport is a public airport located just north of the city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Facilities and aircraft Lompoc Airport covers an area of at an elevation of 88 feet (27 m) above mean sea level. ...

alone, claiming that he was flying to

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side. Mammoth Mount ...

to spread ashes of his friend

Johnny Strange Johnny Strange (born 6 December 1988), nicknamed "the man with ears of steel", is an English world record breaking performance artist, producer and street performer based in London, England. He is known for performing daredevil stunts with a c ...

. The aircraft was described by sources at Lompoc Airport as "in need of major maintenance". Unusually for him when piloting, indeed for pilots of most civil aircraft, Jacob wore a bulky skydiving parachute, a style that is awkward to wear in a small Taylorcraft with standard seats. The aircraft was outfitted with several digital cameras to film the flight and Jacob carried a selfie stick. During the flight, the engine stopped running and Jacob parachuted to the ground, suffering minor injuries on landing. He subsequently hiked out and claimed that the engine had failed. The unoccupied aircraft crashed into unpopulated

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

near

New Cuyama, California New Cuyama (Chumash: ''Kuyam'', meaning "Clam") is a census-designated place in the Cuyama Valley, Santa Barbara County, California. It was named after the Chumash word for "clams", most likely due to the millions of petrified prehistoric clamshe ...

, and was substantially damaged. A month later, Jacob released an edited video depicting many of these events on his YouTube channel. However it does not show the aircraft controls nor engine instruments when the engine stops running. Jacob is also not seen carrying out basic aviation emergency procedures such as trying to restart the engine, contacting

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

, or initiating a

forced landing A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components, or weather which makes continued flight impossible. For a full description of these, see article on ' ...

despite potential landing sites being visible. These and other unusual behaviors led to skepticism from the aviation community, who suspected that the crash was a deliberate

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

. The

(FAA) and

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

(NTSB) both launched investigations although the NTSB does not normally investigate off-airport

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

crashes that do not involve serious injuries to persons, flight control problems, or substantial damage to property other than the aircraft itself. Jacob denied having purposefully left the aircraft to crash, saying that "People can believe whatever they choose". In April 2022, the FAA determined that he had indeed abandoned the aircraft solely to film the crash. The FAA cited his opening of the cabin door prior to the purported engine failure; the lack of any attempt to execute an emergency landing, contact air traffic control, or restart the engine; and his personal unsupervised recovery of the onboard cameras and the aircraft wreckage, which he allegedly disposed of. The FAA revoked his

private pilot certificate A private pilot licence (PPL) or, in the United States, a private pilot certificate, is a type of Pilot licensing and certification, pilot licence that allows the holder to act as pilot in command of an aircraft privately (not for remuneration) ...

and ruled that he will not be permitted to apply for a new certificate for one year, stating that "your flight … ascareless or reckless so as to endanger life or property of another".

References

External links

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Profile at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Trevor 1993 births Living people Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic snowboarders of the United States People from Mammoth Lakes, California People from West Hills, Los Angeles American YouTubers YouTube controversies