A YouTuber Purposely Crashed His Plane in California, FAA Says

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. From a report: In a letter to Mr. Jacob on April 11, the F.A.A. 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 F.A.A.'s ruling and replied, "Where'd you get that information?" 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 F.A.A. 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.

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