YouTube Influencer pilot Trevor Jacob crashed his plane on purpose so that he could record it for a video, the FAA finds

• The FAA revoked the private pilot certificate of a YouTuber after he was found to have crashed a plane on purpose.
• Trevor Jacob, 28, was accused online of faking a plane crash last year to get views and likes.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revoked the private pilot certificate of a YouTube influencer pilot after determining that he crashed his plane on purpose for a video.

"You demonstrated a lack of care, judgment and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so you could record the footage of the crash," the agency told YouTuber Trevor Jacob on April 11, in a letter seen by Insider.

"Your egregious and intentional actions on these dates indicate that you presently lack the degree of care, judgment and responsibility required of a certificate holder."

Jacob, who has around 133,000 YouTube subscribers, had been under investigation after he was accused of staging a plane crash so that he could make a video about it for views.

In the video "I Crashed My Plane" posted last December, the 28-year-old can be seen parachuting out of a civilian aircraft — which he said experienced engine failure — while flying over the Los Padres National Forest in California. The video was immediately met with skepticism from aviation enthusiasts, who questioned if the crash was a real accident.

The FAA agreed that it seemed odd that Jacob was wearing a parachute in the first place.

In its letter to Jacob, the FAA added: "During this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed."

Jacob also made no attempt to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency, did not attempt restarting the engine, and did not look for a place to land, "even though there were multiple areas within gliding range in which you could have made a safe landing," the agency said.

Following the crash, he "recovered and then disposed of the wreckage," the FAA continued.

On Wednesday, Jacob did not appear to be aware of the FAA's ruling, telling the New York Times in an email: "Where'd you get that information?"

He did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.