Trevor Jacob speaks out ahead of prison sentence for viral airplane stunt, shares lessons learned

YouTuber and former Olympic athlete Trevor Jacob's life took a sudden turn two years ago after he purposely crashed a plane in California as part of a viral stunt. 

Today, Jacob, who will soon begin a six-month stint in federal prison, is speaking out about the incident and said he regrets the moment he thought of the idea. However, he is even more focused on turning this incident into a learning lesson for others, so he can prevent them from following in his footsteps. 

"I'm happy to admit my mistakes and say when I'm wrong," Jacob told FOX Business. "What I am currently learning and have learned and will continue to learn is ideally going to benefit other people from making similar mistakes." 

YOUTUBER TREVOR JACOB PURPOSELY CRASHED PLANE, FAA SAYS

Now, Jacob believes that one's purpose in life is "using our biggest mistakes to benefit others." During this next chapter, after prison, he plans to do just that.

Video of the stunt purportedly shows the aircraft Jacob was piloting having an engine failure over the mountainous Los Padres National Forest in California's Santa Barbara County. Jacob was already wearing a parachute when he jumped out of the plane with a selfie stick camera in his hand. The clip has since amassed 4.5 million views.

In June 2023, the 30-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation after deliberately destroying the wreckage of the airplane that he intentionally crashed in Santa Barbara County, the Justice Department said. 

Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum that "this type of ‘daredevil’ conduct cannot be tolerated."

The Justice Department also said Jacob lied about the wreckage's location in the weeks following the stunt even after he informed the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the plane crash and agreed to provide the coordinates of the downed plane and videos of the crash to NTSB investigators.  

The Federal Aviation Administration, which launched its own investigation following the incident, temporarily revoked his private pilot's license. 

Jacob, who initially faced five felony charges, told FOX Business that he was "given poor legal advice" to go and remove the wreckage and lie about where it was located. 

Still, he said in a recent YouTube video that he is "taking full responsibility" for his actions.

"We have to learn certain lessons in order to approach the next chapter of life from a different perspective than we have," he said. "That allows us to truly accomplish things that otherwise we wouldn't have been able to accomplish. And I see this next chapter with me really wanting to teach kids and teach people about not only the dangers of social media, but just other lessons that I've learned in life." 

YOUTUBER WHO STAGED PLANE CRASH IN CALIFORNIA SENTENCED TO 6 MONTHS IN PRISON

Jacob wants to instill in younger generations the importance of being active and stepping away from social media. While it can be a great tool, he warned there are also dangers associated with it.

The athlete said that the faster someone can learn their lesson, the faster they can grow from it and help others from what they have learned. 

"If you're wrong, admit you're wrong and move on and just be the best person that you can be to those around you, and try to add value to society and uplift humanity in the best way that you can or know how to," he said. 

In this situation, Jacob admitted that he'd "done the exact opposite of that." 

"That truly has made me realize that in this next chapter I only plan to uplift humanity and be a contributor to it instead of taking away from it, which is exactly what I've done here," he said. 

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Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report.