Trevor Jacob has been the subject of online criticism after posting a YouTube video where he parachuted from a Taylorcraft BL64 plane and filmed it crashing into the hills of the Los Padres National Forest near Cuyama, California.

During the flight the Taylorcraft's engine supposedly lost power, stalled, and could not be restarted. Jacob then points the plane nose-down and exits, sending the unoccupied aircraft into the ground.

Jacob continued to film himself as he descended and proclaimed, "This is why I always fly with a parachute." He then trekked back to the wreckage and hiked until a farmer, who he credits with saving his life, found him in the darkness.

The video of the incident was posted to YouTube where it immediately began racking up views. The aviation sector of YouTube wasted no time picking apart Jacob's claims. At the time of writing, the video has reached over one million views. It also amassed more than 5,000 comments, many of which called out the crash as being staged. Comments on the video have since been turned off, but that hasn't stopped people from making reaction and explainer videos that point out abnormalities in the pilot's videos.

  • Quimby [any, any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    aviation nerds are a force to be reckoned with. the hive mind in that domain is honestly super cool. "I think I heard a noise near my house last night." ... 5 seconds later someone replies "American Airlines flight 523 heading northwest at 6:12pm"

    • GoroAkechi [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I’ve got an app on my phone with an AR took that can ID any civilian aircraft in a 30 mile radius, the type of plane, altitude, airspeed, and destination.

    • WIIHAPPYFEW [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      Ackchyually AA523 flies between Washington DC and Chicago so it would be flying northeast

      Edit: fuck you were right, I just got east and west mixed up

          • Quimby [any, any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            all good. the funnier thing is that I picked a random airline, flight number, and direction--and I somehow picked not only an accurate direction, but a flight that could plausibly fly over my house. how tf?? :wut:

  • supersaiyan [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Are planes really that cheap to make back the money from video views?

    • bewts [he/him,comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      If you’re wanting to dip your toes into the “owning your own plane” industry and your single biggest concern is the cost of the aircraft, then the obvious choice is the Cessna 150. As the most affordable plane on this list, the Cessna 150 can typically be found for around $14,000 to $16,000. Sure, that’s still a decent amount of money, but that’s less than most used cars even sell for these days.

      Apparently they are. The one he was flying looked old too.

      From here

    • The_Walkening [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      This might've been a "friction fire" sort of event where he's wrecking it intentionally, but he also filmed his (possible) insurance fraud.

    • Does_KJU_Have_Drip [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Well if you point out it’s bullshit you’re automatically a tankie wumao shill, so most normies just keep their head down

  • StellarTabi [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    The aviation sector of YouTube wasted no time picking apart Jacob’s claims.

    I've read enough r/NothingEverHappens to know people really just like calling everything fake. The video didn't have anything laywoman could spot, is it really that unbelievable?

    • BynarsAreOk [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      1)People don't usually pilot planes with a parachute, at most they wouldn't be wearing it all the time lol.

      2)Even if somehow you decided to have a parachute pilots usualy try to land the plane safely.

      3)Even if somehow you determined you couldn't land you would've tried to glide so that you can crash safely.

      • Duckduck [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        He wasn't "wearing a parachute". He was wearing full skydiving gear. Nobody does that. Even those weirdos who pack a parachute pack a very basic one that's designed to get you on the ground, no frills. Sucker had a selfie stick ready to go and everything. The FAA is going to ream him a new asshole.

    • Lydia [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I thought laymen was a gender neutral term

      • sappho [she/her]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        I just say layperson for gender neutral