Before we get into this fresh YouTube drama, I feel I should start this one by firstly confirming that I am not a qualified pilot. – Given that I do have around 11 hours of instructed flying, however, I’m by no means ignorant of the processes and training required to obtain a private pilot’s license (PPI). – Put simply, whatever opinions I lay out below, they are not purely based on an armchair opinion with maybe a few hours logged into Microsoft Flight Simulator.
So, with that little disclaimer out of the way, what exactly happened here? Well, following a report via TechSpot, a YouTuber has seen his pilot’s license suspended after an FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) investigation basically deemed that the crashing of his plane was nothing more than a deliberate publicity stunt.
YouTuber Deemed to Have Deliberately Crashed Plane!
The Youtuber in question, ‘Trevor Jacob’, has a channel with over 100,000 subscribers. While their content is slightly varied, the key focus of it is generally on flying, parachuting, and general adrenalin junkie kind of stuff. – In this particular video, however, (posted below), they show admittedly pretty amazing footage of an apparent engine failure on his light aircraft which, according to him, required him to bail out and parachute to safety. This, of course, led the plane to fall from the sky and crash into a thankfully unpopulated mountain region.
Following a subsequent investigation by the FAA, however, they have deemed that a number of key procedures were not adhered to during the incident, and, in very basic terms, and paraphrasing quite a lot, that the crash was deliberately staged as a means of boosting the popularity of their channel. – A factor clearly supposed by the fact that, as you’ll see shortly, footage of the incident was posted to YouTube!
What Do I Think?
Overall, I agree with the FAA. Although the YouTube video has clearly been subjected to a little editing, there are many basic key procedures that do not appear to be adhered to. These include:
- The apparent failure to even attempt to restart the engine. Admittedly if it was a total electrical failure (NOT CONFIRMED ONE WAY OR THE OTHER) this wouldn’t be possible. I don’t, however, see any evidence of him even trying to get it running again. – I can’t stress enough just how much of a basic first step this is! – What’s the first thing you do if your car cuts out? You try to fire it up again!
- The fact that he did not declare any kind of emergency with air traffic control. A total engine failure should’ve warranted a ‘mayday’ or at least a ‘pan pan pan’ broadcast. Again, a really basic step.
- The fact that he seemed to very quickly come to the decision to bail out of the aircraft. Sure, no power is NOT ideal, and he was seemingly in a mountainous region, but I think many pilots would’ve evaluated a potential glide to a relatively safe landing location. This wasn’t a big plane and his altitude did appear to potentially allow for up to 10-20 miles of gliding (and possibly more) – Put simply, he probably had at least another 5 minutes before he had to commit to bailing.
- Is it convenient or lucky that this incident just happened to occur over a totally unpopulated area?
- I find the fact that he just happened to be wearing a parachute at the time of the incident more than a little suspicious. Sure you might keep one in the cockpit, but actually having it on ready to go? They’re bulking things! (
Put simply, there are a lot of question marks surrounding this incident, and, overall, I think the evidence points towards this being, as the FAA deemed, a deliberate crash for YouTube/publicity purposes. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am. – With his license suspended, however, it’s now up to ‘Trevor Jacob’ to prove the contrary to get it back. – Albeit, he has said that following advice from his lawyer, he will not be publically talking about the incident for the foreseeable future. Bit odd though that he has decided to keep the video up. Make off that what you will!
What do you think? Was this just a stunt for YouTube popularity? – Let us know in the comments!
