Trevor Daniel Jacob, a YouTube pilot, pleaded guilty to intentionally crashing an airplane and obstructing a federal investigation.
Jacob ejected himself from the airplane he was flying, claiming there was no safe place to land, while the plane crashed near the Los Padres National Forest.
He recorded the incident using multiple cameras and uploaded a 12-minute video to YouTube, which gained 3.1 million views.
Jacob equipped himself with a parachute and selfie stick, capturing his ejection from the plane and subsequent parachute landing.
After the crash, he hiked through the park, reported the incident three days later, and misled the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the circumstances of the crash.
Jacob and a friend returned to the crash site, carried the wreckage to another location, and disposed of it in trash containers around the airport to obstruct the investigation.
Jacob admitted in his plea deal that he intended to make money through the video by promoting a sponsored product.
He faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison for one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.