The Federal Aviation Administration found that a daredevil YouTuber, who posted a video of himself parachuting out of a plane that he claimed had malfunctioned, abandoned the plane and allowed it to crash into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California.
The F.A.A. wrote a letter to Mr. Jacob on April 11 saying he had violated federal aviation regulations and operated his single-engine plane in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.
The agency said it would immediately end Mr. Jacob's permission to operate any aircraft.
Mr. Jacob was unaware of the F.A.A.'s ruling and asked where he could get that information.
He didn't reply to the follow-up emails.
Mr. Jacob, a former snowboarding Olympian with more than 100,000 subscribers, briefly addressed the airplane controversy in a video posted on his YouTube channel last week.
The truth of that situation will come out with time, he said.
The F.A.A. can only issue fines and revocations of certificates. If Mr. Jacob did not return his private pilot certificate, the agency said it would take legal action, including a civil penalty of up to $1,644.
The Office of Inspector General, which oversees the F.A.A., could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into Mr. Jacob.
A 13-minute video of the crash has more than 1.7 million views. It shows Mr. Jacob piloting a small 1940 Taylorcraft plane and recording the views of Los Padres National Forest.
Mr. Jacob said in a statement in January that he had flown that day to spread the ashes of his best friend, Johnny Strange, over the top of a Sierra Nevada mountain. BASE jumping is an extreme sport in which people parachute from a fixed object or structure.
When the propeller stops spinning, Mr. Jacob uses a lot of expletives. He opens the plane's door and jumps out with a parachute, abandoning the plane as he descends toward the forest, with a selfie stick in hand to record it all.
He says after landing in prickly brush that he is happy to be alive. He says in the video that he hiked through the forest for at least six hours until he was found by a farmer. He found the wrecked plane in a thicket of shrubs.
After he posted the video, viewers and aviation experts questioned his portrayal of the crash. They claimed that it was orchestrated for views and likes and that several steps Mr. Jacob took were evidence of a publicity stunt.
Mr. Jacob stopped the comments for the video.
The New York Times requested that the F.A.A. agree about the parachute in its letter, and the F.A.A. pointed out other revealing details that officials had uncovered during an investigation.
The F.A.A. wrote that you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed.
The agency said that before jumping out of the plane, Mr. Jacob did not try to restart the engine, contact air traffic control or look for a place to land.
The F.A.A said that Mr. Jacob recovered and then dumped the wreck.
The agency said that you showed a lack of care, judgment and responsibility by jumping out of the plane to record the crash.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
