YouTuber May Get 20(+?) Years For Airplane Stunt

[dannno]

He certainly assumed that Jacob took a parachute because he intended to bail. That counts as criticism for taking a parachute, in my book.

Ya it sounds like this guy regularly flies through what is called the "Nevada Triangle" of plane crashes, which includes in the eastern sierras in California. I think bringing a parachute with him is totally valid.

The area exists because you have a slight elevation change in the mountains as you head east, up until you get to the highest mountains in the contiguous US, including Mt. Whitney. Then the elevation slams to the ground into the valleys below, which ultimately lead to death valley, which is below sea level. That's almost 15k elevation decent in a very short distance, and elevation changes of around 12k in a VERY short distance, less than a few miles. Prevailing winds from the west/northwest.

 

[Intrepid]

Wrong. He's criticizing him for jumping out, period.

What you are saying is what students are taught in school. which is: Fly the plane, but jumping out is ok too.

No school on this planet would teach what he is saying which is, summarized: he was an idiot and/or asshole for using a parachute at all.

He said nothing about his problem with him jumping out is that he jumped out "too early".

Based on the strength of how offended he was to the man's comment that he "brought a parachute", and the lack of any reason to suggest that he thought a parachute could be useful in this situation at all, absolutely: he expected the pilot to land the plane in this situation vs jump out.

You sir are no lover of liberty.

 

[TheTexan]

You sir are no lover of liberty.

Yea, that conclusion logically follows. Thanks for the post.

 

[Intrepid]

Yea, that conclusion logically follows. Thanks for the post.

You might want to do some research before you embarrass yourself again.

 

[TheTexan]

You might want to do some research before you embarrass yourself again.

Research, sure ok. Seems kind of vague, but I suppose research in general is a good idea.

Any other insightful tips you may have?

 

[Intrepid]

Research, sure ok. Seems kind of vague, but I suppose research in general is a good idea.

Any other insightful tips you may have?

Don't make me open up a can of whoop-ass.

 

[TheTexan]

Don't make me open up a can of whoop-ass.

What's your favorite brand?

 

[TheTexan]

It would be dangerously reckless to try a forced landing in the mountains, when you've got a parachute as an option.

This is basically an irrefutable fact.

Hornfeld and anyone else who thinks that's a good idea (let alone: obligatory) is an idiot.

 

[Occam's Banana]

Irrelevant to any of the points I've made but sure.

*shrug* You cited what he said as if it mattered, so his being full shit (by his own admission, no less) seems pretty relevant.

He certainly assumed that Jacob took a parachute because he intended to bail. That counts as criticism for taking a parachute, in my book.

He didn't criticize Jacob for taking a parachute ...

He criticized Jacob for saying, in effect, "I always wear a parachute in-flight while I'm piloting so I can just bail out right away at the first sign of trouble".

He said nothing of the sort. For a guy that likes to say "He didn't say that", I would think you would have more appreciation for referencing what he actually said, than putting words in his mouth to try to make a point.

What he actually said is

"where the hell am I gonna land a plane, I'll frickin die. That's why I always fly with a parachute".

Of course he said something of the sort. He wore a parachute in-flight while he was piloting. He bailed out right away at the first sign of a (faked-up) "problem". Then he said afterward (full quote): "I'm just so happy to be alive. I'm just kind of taking in what just happened. Well, where the hell am I going to land a freaking plane? I'm gonna die! That's why I always freaking fly with a parachute." IOW: "I always wear a parachute in-flight while I'm piloting so I can just bail out right away at the first sign of trouble" is in effect what he was saying, as he clearly demonstrated by the fact that that is just exactly what he actually did. (That is what "in effect" means - it does not mean "literally".)

But of course, he already knew "what just happened" (because he intentionally made it happen), he didn't need to know "where the hell [he was] going to land" (because he had no intention of landing), he wasn't "gonna die", and that is not why he "always freaking fl[ies] with a parachute" (he wore it whilel he was flying because he knew before he ever even took off that he was going to jump and let his plane crash - not because he was worried about any damn mountains).

The fact that you think you have the authority to tell someone that they have an obligation to try to land - in the mountains, is evidence that your head is so far fucked up on this topic that it's beyond reason.

You can argue all day long that this guy is an asshole or whatever, but the real asshole here is you, if you think you have any right to demand that someone try to make a forced landing versus the much safer option of just jumping out.

I do not demand that anyone try to make a forced landing if they genuinely decide they are unable to do so - but I absolutely do demand that someone in Jacob's situation (for real) should make a good-faith attempt to find a way to avoid abandoning a flying plane before doing so. Jacob did no such thing, and he deserves every bit of criticism he gets for it - and so does anyone else who does what he did.

But all that is actually irrelevant in this case, because no forced landing was ever necessary. Jacob did not decide that there were no viable landing spots. He did not decide that a forced landing was too dangerous. He did not decide that jumping was the much safer option. Every one of those supposed "decisions" was completely bogus. Every single one.

If criticizing some lying, feckless jackass (or even just some random "someone") for doing something while flying a plane that no adequately trained and competent pilot ought to do (such as immediately bailing out the moment a potentially serious but not catastrophic problem occurs) makes me an asshole, then so be it - I'm an asshole. Mea maxima culpa. And if giving that same lying, feckless jackass a pass for his irresponsibly deliberate incompetence in the course of enacting a self-serving, attention-seeking hoax is what it takes for me to stop being an asshole, then I guess I'll just have to resign myself to my stinky fate.

 

[TheTexan]

*shrug* You cited what he said as if it mattered, so his being full shit (by his own admission, no less) seems pretty relevant.



He didn't criticize Jacob for taking a parachute ...



Of course he said something of the sort. He wore a parachute in-flight while he was piloting. He bailed out right away at the first sign of a (faked-up) "problem". Then he said afterward (full quote): "I'm just so happy to be alive. I'm just kind of taking in what just happened. Well, where the hell am I going to land a freaking plane? I'm gonna die! That's why I always freaking fly with a parachute." IOW: "I always wear a parachute in-flight while I'm piloting so I can just bail out right away at the first sign of trouble" is in effect what he was saying, as he clearly demonstrated by the fact that that is just exactly what he actually did. (That is what "in effect" means - it does not mean "literally".)

But of course, he already knew "what just happened" (because he intentionally made it happen), he didn't need to know "where the hell [he was] going to land" (because he had no intention of landing), he wasn't "gonna die", and that is not why he "always freaking fl[ies] with a parachute" (he wore it whilel he was flying because he knew before he ever even took off that he was going to jump and let his plane crash - not because he was worried about any damn mountains).



I do not demand that anyone try to make a forced landing if they genuinely decide they are unable to do so - but I absolutely do demand that someone in Jacob's situation (for real) should make a good-faith attempt to find a way to avoid abandoning a flying plane before doing so. Jacob did no such thing, and he deserves every bit of criticism he gets for it - and so does anyone else who does what he did.

But all that is actually irrelevant in this case, because no forced landing was ever necessary. Jacob did not decide that there were no viable landing spots. He did not decide that a forced landing was too dangerous. He did not decide that jumping was the much safer option. Every one of those supposed "decisions" was completely bogus. Every single one.

If criticizing some lying, feckless jackass (or even just some random "someone") for doing something while flying a plane that no adequately trained and competent pilot ought to do (such as immediately bailing out the moment a potentially serious but not catastrophic problem occurs) makes me an asshole, then so be it - I'm an asshole. Mea maxima culpa. And if giving that same lying, feckless jackass a pass for his irresponsibly deliberate incompetence in the course of enacting a self-serving, attention-seeking hoax is what it takes for me to stop being an asshole, then I guess I'll just have to resign myself to my stinky fate.

You seem to have this idea that I care whether or not Jacob staged this "accident", or that it matters to this discussion. I don't, and it doesn't. Hornsfeld's video - and this subsequent discussion - was based on what someone should do in Jacob's position assuming it was a real emergency.

All of this is really very simple. See post #48. Hornsfeld is an idiot and you're an idiot for agreeing with him.

 

[TheTexan]

Of course he said something of the sort. He wore a parachute in-flight while he was piloting. He bailed out right away at the first sign of a (faked-up) "problem". Then he said afterward (full quote): "I'm just so happy to be alive. I'm just kind of taking in what just happened. Well, where the hell am I going to land a freaking plane? I'm gonna die! That's why I always freaking fly with a parachute." IOW: "I always wear a parachute in-flight while I'm piloting so I can just bail out right away at the first sign of trouble" is in effect what he was saying, as he clearly demonstrated by the fact that that is just exactly what he actually did. (That is what "in effect" means - it does not mean "literally".)

Yea, again, he didn't say anything remotely of the sort, in effect or otherwise. You can interpret his actions however you like but you're simply expressing your hypocrisy by saying he "said" such a thing that he clearly did not say, based on your interpretation of his following actions. If you want to play the "He didnt say that game", at least follow your own rules.

And as far as his actions are concerned, they also did not indicate he bailed out at the "first sign of trouble". If you want to rephrase that to "first sign of trouble [when over the mountains or other terrain impossible to safely land on]" then you'd at least be within the ball park of what he said. (Which is actually quite reasonable despite the derogatory intentions of the phrasing)

If you knew anything about piloting an aircraft, you would know that these kinds of emergency decisions are made before you even start the engine. There are a 100 things that can go wrong in flight and a pilot has to know in advance what he is going to do when a specific emergency happens.

Jacob in this case (assuming innocence) made the conscious decision to bail in case of an engine out over the mountains. Which is entirely reasonable.

He had no obligation to aviate, weave a basket, or do any other waste of time in between the engine going out, and him bailing out. The decision that he wasn't going to land had already been made.

So no, if someone in Jacob's position had done the exact same thing, it is not "bailing out at the first sign of trouble". It's following the pre-decided emergency checklist.

 

[jmdrake]

It probably was. A reasonable doubt still exists based on what I've seen. There's a reasonable explanation for any of his decisions/actions.

Like the fact that the plane was trimmed down when he jumped, it's certainly plausible he did that to reduce chance of hitting the tail when he jumped out.

A reasonable doubt as to what exactly? Didn't he already admit it was a publicity stunt?



Twenty years is a long time considering nobody died and no (to my knowledge) property damage, but as to guilt or innocence that's settled unless I'm missing something.

Edit: From the OP.

By the time Lompoc resident Trevor Jacob bailed out of his single-engine airplane on November 24, 2021, Los Padres National Forest hadn’t seen but an inch and a tenth of rain since the previous May. Pilot-less, the Taylorcraft BL-65 flew into the side of a mountain, while Jacob crunched down into chaparral with a parachute — as about three cameras captured video, one of them on his selfie-stick. On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that Jacob, a 29-year-old YouTube personality and former Olympic snowboarder, had reached an agreement to plead guilty to destroying and concealing the wrecked plane in order to obstruct the investigation into the crash. The obstruction charge could earn him 20 years in prison.​

 

[TheTexan]

A reasonable doubt as to what exactly? Didn't he already admit it was a publicity stunt?



Twenty years is a long time considering nobody died and no (to my knowledge) property damage, but as to guilt or innocence that's settled unless I'm missing something.

Edit: From the OP.

By the time Lompoc resident Trevor Jacob bailed out of his single-engine airplane on November 24, 2021, Los Padres National Forest hadn’t seen but an inch and a tenth of rain since the previous May. Pilot-less, the Taylorcraft BL-65 flew into the side of a mountain, while Jacob crunched down into chaparral with a parachute — as about three cameras captured video, one of them on his selfie-stick. On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that Jacob, a 29-year-old YouTube personality and former Olympic snowboarder, had reached an agreement to plead guilty to destroying and concealing the wrecked plane in order to obstruct the investigation into the crash. The obstruction charge could earn him 20 years in prison.​

It may be settled for the courts but not for me.

Confessions made under coercion, for me, hold no weight.

If he's confessed somewhere besides a plea deal, then yea, absolutely.

 

[ClaytonB]

It may be settled for the courts but not for me.

Confessions made under coercion, for me, hold no weight.

If he's confessed somewhere besides a plea deal, then yea, absolutely.

You've beaten this dead horse into a mudhole. Nobody in this thread believes in inquisitorial "confessions" that the prosecutors extract from people on threat of the medieval punishments at their disposal. Nevertheless, just because a lot of confessions are bogus doesn't mean there aren't true confessions. And every indication here is that this is obviously what happened here. Nothing about this event seems even remotely believable. It is not even remotely believable that this was an accident, as claimed. It is obvious he intentionally crashed the plane. Can you not see in his very demeanor that the bail-out from the airplane was the whole point?! What could possibly be more obvious? Even the editing of the video suggests this (in line with the content of the footage). It really needs no further explanation. Just the expressions on his face and his demeanor would be enough to convince me "beyond reasonable doubt" if I were sitting on a jury for this. His defense would have to introduce something truly extraordinary to convince me otherwise. And I'm not seeing anything extraordinary here. Every indicator reaffirms the obvious fact that he intended to crash the plane before he took off on the flight, and then lied about it.

Stop arguing and go hit a punching bag to clear your mind, or something...

 

[TheTexan]

You've beaten this dead horse into a mudhole.

I was answering his question. Relax.

He probably is guilty. Probably.

I'm not gonna say he's guilty just because "his face looks guilty" lol jeez. Maybe that's enough for you - and honestly that's fine. It's not enough for me.

Stop arguing and go hit a punching bag to clear your mind, or something...

Honestly I have no interest in arguing the details of Jacob's guiltyness or lack thereof, and am happy to end that thread of this discussion right here.

I understand you know damn sure he's guilty and I respect your opinion. I just disagree.

 

[TheTexan]

It would be dangerously reckless to try a forced landing in the mountains, when you've got a parachute as an option.

This is basically an irrefutable fact.

Hornfeld and anyone else who thinks that's a good idea (let alone: obligatory) is an idiot.

[MENTION=28167]Occam's Banana[/MENTION]

If you do have a refutation of the above post, I would be very interested in hearing it. Because for the life of me, I cannot imagine any scenario where a reasonable person, with a parachute available, would try to make a forced landing in the mountains, when more than 10% of forced landings (on average terrain!) result in fatality.

The only explanation for it would be a priority other than safety.