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Screenshot from Trevor Jacob's most recent video of him in a Rans S-21 aircraft / Courtesy: YouTubeOne month has yet to pass since former US Olympic snowboarder, daredevil, YouTube personality, convicted felon, and student pilot Trevor Jacob announced to the world that he was flying again.
A week ago, he reportedly declared an emergency while in the air over Southern California, due to a possible fuel issue.
That's according to the Santa Barbara Independent, which reports that on Dec. 17, fire engines, ambulances and police cars arrived, lights flashing and sirens screaming, at Lompoc Airport (LPC) around 1 p.m. local time that afternoon. The control tower had alerted them of an emergency from Jacob.
A fire official told the paper that Jacob believed there was a fuel issue while flying a Rans aircraft.
Rans manufactures STOL plane kits for homebuilt aircraft. A YouTube video uploaded by Jacob earlier this month shows him flying a Rans S-21 Outbound. The FAA aircraft registration database shows an S-21 registered to Jacob.
The fire official told the Independent that, aside from responding, "there was no actual emergency action taken." According to the outlet, the airport manager reported the incident to the FAA, which is standard procedure for any issue on at the facility involving an emergency response.
PREVIOUS STORIES:Trevor Jacob shares reason for intentional plane crash, says he got his pilot's license back YouTuber pilot Trevor Jacob sentenced to 6 months in federal prison What we see in the Trevor Jacob plane crash YouTube video with the FAA investigatingIt was two years ago this month when Jacob outraged pretty much every pilot on the internet when he uploaded a video to his YouTube channel. Entitled "I Crashed My Airplane," it shows him taking off in his TaylorCraft BL-65, strapped with cameras inside and out. Midflight, he claimed engine problems before he videoed himself parachuting to the ground as the plane descended and crashed into the Los Padres National Forest.
According to federal records, Jacob lied and told investigators he did not know where the crash site was, despite retrieving his cameras from the plane and later removing the wreckage to be cut up and trashed.
The video went viral, drawing more attention once it was known the FAA was investigating the crash. He lost his pilot's license and faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. He later took a plea deal and on Dec. 4 of this year, he was sentenced to serve six months behind bars.
Following that, he uploaded a new video on YouTube, entitled "I Got My Pilots License Back! But Going To Prison..."
"Two years ago I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and let it crash into the ground, took some bad advice, and decided to remove the wreckage," Jacob shared in his video post.
He thanked the friends and family who stood by his side, as well as his lawyers. Jacob also thanked the U.S. District Judge presiding over his case for "understanding the truth of the situation" and giving him a second chance at life.
The video also shows him skydiving and flying again, as well as showing off paperwork that he said logged his flight hours that allowed him to fly again.
A review of the online FAA Airmen Certification database by GlobalAir.com shows a Trevor D. Jacob, which matches the middle initial of the YouTuber, holds a third-class medical certificate granted in November. Such certificates are generally granted to student pilots, and pilots who lose their certificates can reapply for a new one after one year in most cases.
The FAA told GlobalAir.com earlier this month that Jacob has a temporary pilot certificate and that his pilot application is working its way through the FAA's standard process. A spokesperson for the federal prosecutor's office that handled Jacob's case declined to comment on his return to the sky.
Jacob must report to the U.S. Marshals Service or the Federal Bureau of Prisons by Jan. 29 to begin serving his six months.