LOS ANGELES
According to federal officials, Daniel Jacob obstructed a federal investigation by destroying the wreckage of an aircraft he purposely crashed in Santa Barbara County to get internet views.
On Monday, the YouTuber pilot was sentenced to six months in federal prison for that crime.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter sentenced 30-year-old Lompoc resident Daniel Jacob.
Jacob pleaded guilty on June 30 to one count of destroying and concealing with the purpose to hindering a federal investigation.
Jacob, a seasoned pilot, skydiver, and former Olympic athlete, had gotten sponsorship from a multi-product corporation that included wallets among its wares.
Jacob was required to promote the company’s wallet in a video he would upload to YouTube as part of the sponsorship agreement, officials stated.
Jacob departed from Lompoc City Airport on a solo flight on November 24, 2021, with the stated destination of Mammoth Lakes.
It was Jacob’s intention to film himself parachuting to the earth and his jet crashing as it plummeted and crashed, rather than to achieve his objective.
Jacob prepared himself for takeoff by attaching many video cameras to various areas of the aircraft and carrying a parachute, a video camera, and a selfie stick.
About 35 minutes after takeoff, Jacob filmed himself parachuting from the aircraft as he flew over the Los Padres National Forest, which is close to Santa Maria.
The video cameras that Jacob installed on the aircraft and the selfie stick allowed him to capture the jet’s descent and crash into some dry bushes in Los Padres National Forest.
Jacob parachuted to the ground, then trekked to the wreckage, where he retrieved the data holding the video footage of his trip and the aircraft accident.
Jacob notified the (NTSB) of the aircraft accident on November 26, 2021.
On or around the same day that the collision occurred, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began investigating, and Jacob was informed that he had to preserve the debris for the agency’s examination.
Jacob consented to help the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) find the accident scene by providing video footage and the precise position of the crashed jet. It took the FAA three days to begin its own investigation into the jet disaster.
Jacob deceived investigators weeks after the jet accident by saying he was unaware of where the debris was. Actually, Jacob and a buddy had a helicopter ride to the crash site on December 10, 2021.
After Jacob fastened the debris with straps, the chopper whisked it away to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County and transferred it to a trailer hitched to Jacob’s pickup vehicle.
Jacob unloaded the debris he had driven in a hangar at Lompoc City Airport.
Then, to thwart federal investigators looking into the plane accident that occurred on November 24, he dismantled and disposed of the debris of the aircraft in various garbage cans at the airport and elsewhere over a few days.
A promotional video for the wallet called “I Crashed My Airplane” was released to Jacob’s YouTube channel on December 23, 2021.
The film showed him parachuting from the plane and the plane crashing thereafter. Jacob hoped to earn some money with the video.
According to the incident report Jacob filed to federal investigators after the plane went down, he gave the misleading impression that the plane lost power completely around 35 minutes after takeoff.
Also, Jacob lied to an FAA aviation safety inspector about the aircraft’s engine dying and his decision to parachute out of the plane because he couldn’t think of a safe way to land.
Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section Assistant US Attorneys Dominique Caamano and Dennis Mitchell prosecuted this case.