AN idiotic YouTuber who filmed himself deliberately crashing a plane for clicks is now facing up to 20 years in prison.
American influencer Trevor Daniel Jacob, 29, filmed himself jumping out of the light aircraft over Los Padres National Forest, California, moments before the plane smashed into a mountain.
At the time of the November 2021 crash, Jacob claimed that it was an unavoidable accident.
But the video, which is still available on YouTube and has been viewed three million times, was used by a court to prove that the Lompoc, California native had deliberately crashed the plane.
In the clip, Jacob is seen swearing repeatedly as he pretends that his engine has broken and he needs to abandon the plane.
He filmed himself jumping out of the aircraft wearing a parachute, while a separate camera inside the cockpit showed the moment of impact.
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Once Jacob safely reached the ground he hiked up to the crash site and surveyed the wreckage.
Using a selfie stick, Jacob filmed himself explaining how he was "just so happy to be alive," and said he was "so thirsty" that he would have to drink from a nearby stream.
The video goes on to show the YouTuber being "rescued" by nearby farmers after spotting their car headlights in the distance.
Jacob's story began the unravel just two days afterwards when he told the National Transportation Safety Board on November 26, 2021.
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Federal prosecutors said in a statement: "In the weeks following the plane crash, Jacob lied to investigators that he did not know the wreckage’s location, according to the plea agreement.
"In fact, on December 10, 2021, Jacob and a friend flew by helicopter to the wreckage site.
"There, Jacob used straps to secure the wreckage, which the helicopter lifted and carried to Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Barbara County, where it was loaded onto a trailer attached to Jacob’s pickup truck."
Jacob later reportedly drove the plane wreckage back to Lompoc City Airport where he had taken off from and cut it into pieces, dumping them in different bins around the airfield.
This was an attempt to disrupt the federal investigators from looking too closely into the cause of the crash.
Jacob was reportedly promoting a wallet in the video to try and make cash from it.
Federal prosecutors went on: "Jacob further admitted he lied to federal investigators when he submitted an aircraft accident incident report that falsely indicated that the aircraft experienced a full loss of power approximately 35 minutes after takeoff.
"Jacob also lied to an FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) aviation safety inspector when he said the airplane’s engine had quit and, because he could not identify any safe landing options, he had parachuted out of the plane."
On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.
The court heard how Jacob claimed he was flying to Mammoth Lakes on the day of the crash.
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His plane came down about 35 minutes after take off.
The FAA revoked Jacob's pilot's licence last year, and it isn't known when sentencing is scheduled for in this case.
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