American Pilot Ethan Guo Is Released After Being Stuck Off Antarctica – The New York Times
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
American Pilot Ethan Guo Is Released After Being Stuck Off Antarctica
Ethan Guo, 20, was stranded on King George Island for more than two months. He was trying to raise money for cancer research. He is now back in the U.S. with his family.
The pilot, Ethan Guo, was 19 when he started a fund-raising campaign for cancer research that involved trying to fly solo to all seven continents, documenting his efforts on social media.
He was detained on June 28 and effectively stranded after the authorities accused him of landing his cherry-red and white single-engine Cessna on King George Island without authorization.
After his release, he arrived in Punta Arenas on the Chilean mainland and then traveled to Santiago with his Chilean lawyer, Jaime Barrientos, according to a statement on Sunday from Sean Croft, one of Mr. Guo’s lawyers in New York.
American pilot and influencer Ethan Guo released from Antarctic air base after 2 months
Ethan Guo was 19 when he began his fundraising mission for cancer research. He was attempting to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents. Prosecutors said he had been authorized to only fly over Punta Arenas in southern Chile. But he kept going south, heading for Antarctica in his Cessna 182Q.”The Chilean people have been incredibly hospitable; they’ve been fantastic people,” Guo says.. He is also banned from entering Chilean territory for three years.
Ethan Guo, who was 19 when he began his fundraising mission for cancer research, was attempting to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents.
But he was detained after Chilean authorities said he lied to officials by providing authorities with “false flight plan data.” Prosecutors said he had been authorized to only fly over Punta Arenas in southern Chile but that he kept going south, heading for Antarctica in his Cessna 182Q — a single-engine light aircraft known for its versatility.
Ethan Guo in Geneva on Aug. 6, 2024. Salvatore Di Nolfi / Keystone via AP file
After he landed in Chile’s Antarctic territory on June 28, he was detained in a military base amid legal negotiations between his lawyers and the government. Guo, who is originally from Tennessee and turned 20 in July, spent two months living in the base with limited communications and freezing Antarctic winter temperatures plunging below zero.
He was released by a Chilean judge on the condition that he donate the tens of thousands of dollars raised to a childhood cancer foundation within 30 days and leave the country as soon as possible. He is also banned from entering Chilean territory for three years.
The influencer’s lawyer Jaime Barrientos told The Associated Press that Guo landed because he had to divert his aircraft due to poor weather conditions, and that he did receive authorization from Chilean authorities.
“To his surprise, when he was about to take off back to Punta Arenas he was arrested, in a process that from my perspective was a total exaggeration,” Barrientos said.
Barrientos said he was happy with the agreement struck with authorities.
Guo landed Saturday at Punta Arenas aboard a navy ship wearing a Chilean national soccer team jersey and appeared friendly with the media after disembarking, describing his detention as “mundane” experience with “limited freedoms.”
“The Chilean people have been incredibly hospitable; they’ve been fantastic people. They’ve taken care of me. They’ve taught me Spanish, and they’ve treated me like family,” he said.
Influencer pilot on cancer fundraiser flight held on Antarctica base for months
Ethan Guo was 19 when he began his solo project to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents, a fundraising mission for Cancer Research. But he became stuck in a Chilean airbase when he flew there without permission. Guo has been allowed back to the Chilean mainland, but must pay the equivalent of around £22,000 in fines. He was released by a Chilean judge on the condition that he donate the tens of thousands of dollars raised to a childhood cancer foundation within 30 days and leave the country as soon as possible. He is also banned from entering Chilean territory for three years.
A social media influencer who was stuck at an airbase in Antarctica for two months has finally been released.
Ethan Guo was 19 when he began his solo project to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents, a fundraising mission for Cancer Research. But he became stuck in a Chilean airbase when he flew there without permission.
Now, Guo has been allowed back to the Chilean mainland, but must pay the equivalent of around £22,000 in fines. Chilean authorities said he lied to officials by providing authorities with “false flight plan data”. Prosecutors said he had been authorised to only fly over Punta Arenas in southern Chile, but that he kept going south, heading for Antarctica in his Cessna 182Q – a single-engine light aircraft known for its versatility.
Guo has been allowed back to the Chilean mainland, ( @ethanguo.rtw/Instagram)
After he landed in Chile’s Antarctic territory on June 28, he was detained in a military base amid legal negotiations between his lawyers and the government. Guo, who is originally from Tennessee and turned 20 in July, spent two months living in the base with limited communications and freezing Antarctic winter temperatures plunging below zero.
He was released by a Chilean judge on the condition that he donate the tens of thousands of dollars raised to a childhood cancer foundation within 30 days and leave the country as soon as possible. He is also banned from entering Chilean territory for three years.
Guo celebrated turning 20 in Antarctica ( @ethanguo.rtw/Instagram)
The influencer’s lawyer Jaime Barrientos said Guo landed because he had to divert his aircraft due to poor weather conditions, and that he did receive authorisation from Chilean authorities.
“To his surprise, when he was about to take off back to Punta Arenas he was arrested, in a process that from my perspective was a total exaggeration,” Barrientos said. Barrientos said he was happy with the agreement struck with authorities.
Guo said Chileans taught him Spanish and became ‘like family’ ( @ethanguo.rtw/Instagram)
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Guo landed Saturday at Punta Arenas aboard a navy ship wearing a Chilean national soccer team jersey and appeared friendly with the press after disembarking, describing his detention as “mundane” experience with “limited freedoms”.
“The Chilean people have been incredibly hospitable, they’ve been fantastic people. They’ve taken care of me. They’ve taught me Spanish, and they’ve treated me like family,” he said.
Guo made headlines last year when he began a trip in an attempt to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents and at the same time collect donations for research into childhood cancer.
Chile wants Ethan Guo out of Antarctica. He says he’s ‘stuck’ there
Ethan Guo set out to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe. The 19-year-old was raising money for childhood cancer research. But engine troubles sidelined him for more than 70 days, ultimately dashing his chance at the record. Mr Guo landed at Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin Airport on King George Island, a Chilean territory in Antarctica. He says he was met by “a bunch of dudes” in black suits. Officials alleged he had submitted a “false flight plan” that he never intended to take off from Punta Arenas, Chile, and that he had landed without public permission. He had previously publicly stated his intention of flying to Antarctica, which is permanently-staffed with research stations-staffing stations. He has since returned to the U.S. and plans to raise money for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which researches prevention, treatment, and cures for childhood cancers. He is raising funds for his cousin, who has stage 4 blood cancer.
Packing a survival kit, a satellite phone, and five changes of clothes into his 50-year-old Cessna 182, he set out from Memphis, Tennessee, on May 31, 2024.
His 1.4 million-strong audience on Instagram watched as the young pilot darted between dozens of countries around the world, all to raise money for childhood cancer research.
That was, until his social media profile suddenly went dark.
Engine troubles and a mayday call
The initial plan was to set a record as the youngest person to ever fly around the world.
Mr Guo said he began preparing at just 13 years of age, by homeschooling and graduating early.
He later added the goal of raising $US1 million for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which researches prevention, treatment, and cures for childhood cancers.
“Unfortunately, while preparing, my cousin was diagnosed with stage 4 blood cancer,” he said in a video posted to his Instagram.
” Wanting to help, I shifted this mission to something more important. ”
At 17, he was ready to take off.
Ethan Guo set out to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe.
But within an hour of his first leg — from Massachusetts to Tennessee — Mr Guo encountered engine troubles that would sideline him for more than 70 days, ultimately dashing his chance at the record.
“Unfortunately, the record is lost, but the original mission to fight cancer isn’t,” he said, hinting at a new, bigger plan.
Loading Instagram content
That plan, he later revealed, was to become the first person to fly to all seven continents solo, which kicked off in May 2024.
Notching several stops in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East with relative ease, it wasn’t until leaving India that his first run-in with a government occurred.
He was attempting to fly to Thailand during September — the tail end of India’s monsoon season — when he encountered a storm that blocked his route, forcing a northern detour.
“As I kept on flying, the storm got so bad that the plane started leaking,” he said.
“With a plane full of fuel that could explode from any spark, I had to do something.”
Mr Guo declared an emergency and landed in Myanmar, in the throes of a civil war that has seen more than 82,000 people killed.
“It wasn’t ideal since I had no paperwork, and the country was in conflict, but I figured I was safer on the ground. I thought I was toast,” the pilot wrote on social media.
He claims to have been interrogated for “a few hours” before spending the night in a detention room.
“By morning, they told me to leave as soon as possible,” he wrote.
Next stop: Antarctica?
After logging more than a year of travel, the icy shores of Antarctica were the last location he needed to tick off his checklist of continents.
Mr Guo took off from Punta Arenas, Chile, before sunrise on June 28, bound for Ushuaia in southern Argentina.
But the 19-year-old says a storm of factors forced him to make another emergency landing.
His navigation tools were malfunctioning, he’d lost communication with air traffic controllers on the ground, and ice was forming on his plane, he later said.
As Mr Guo began to lose airspeed, he set course for Antarctica — what he said was the closest place to land without traversing the worst of airspace above mountain ranges.
Now hundreds of kilometres off course, Mr Guo landed at Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin Airport on King George Island, a Chilean territory in Antarctica.
There, he says he was met by “a bunch of dudes” in black suits.
It marked the beginning of a weeks-long confinement on a freezing, remote corner of the planet.
Stranded in a polar desert
Chilean officials alleged he had submitted a “false flight plan” that he never intended to take when he took off from Punta Arena, and that he had landed without permission, risking public safety.
They cited the fact Mr Guo had previously publicly stated his intention of flying to Antarctica.
King George Island is home to several permanently-staffed research stations. (Reuters: Fabian Cambero)
Magallanes Regional prosecutor Cristián Crisosto said there were “at least six other airports” Mr Guo could have made emergency landings at prior to reaching King George Island.
He added that Mr Guo’s 50-year-old Cessna 182 would never have received authorisation to fly to Antarctica “because it does not meet any requirements”.
“The season for going to Antarctica for larger commercial aircraft is between October and February of each year,” he told Chile’s Tele13 Radio. “And it’s not because of comfort, it’s because it’s really dangerous to go at that time of year, right? At this time of year, in our winter, it’s twice as dangerous. “We’re talking about one of the most extreme routes on the planet, where planes have to meet all the requirements, not only national ones, but also international aeronautical regulations. “They also have to meet all the requirements of the Antarctic Treaty, so environmental requirements.”
Chilean authorities alleged Ethan Guo had planned to fly to Antarctica without permission. (X: Ethan Guo)
Mr Guo was charged on June 29 with violating two articles of the country’s aeronautical code, including one that could lead to short-term imprisonment, and his plane was seized.
The young pilot rejected the accusations.
“I was like, ‘I don’t care what’s going to happen.’ Like, this is an emergency. I need to get down,” he told The New York Times.
Most stations on King George Island are permanently staffed by researchers. (Reuters: Fabian Cambero)
Nevertheless, he was confined in an outpost on the island as a judge spent weeks considering his case.
While he was not forced to stay there, only to remain in Chilean territory, there were no commercial flights available for him to take off the island due to the severe winter weather.
Through patchy Wi-fi, Mr Guo was eventually able to confirm to his followers he was okay.
“I’m alive everyone, I’ll make an update soon,” he wrote on X on July 3.
Charges dropped but still grounded
Weeks later, on August 11, a judge dropped the charges as part of an agreement with Mr Guo’s lawyers and Chile’s prosecutors.
Charges dropped for US influencer stranded at Antarctic military base Photo shows Ethan Guo sits in the cockpit of a plane. US influencer Ethan Guo has had charges against him dropped after being stranded at a Chilean military base in Antartica.
Mr Guo would be required to give a $US30,000 ($46,000) donation to the Nuestros Hijos Foundation, a children’s cancer foundation, within 30 days to avoid a trial.
He has already raised more than $US140,000 for nonprofit St Jude, according to his fundraising page.
The agreement also stated Mr Guo must leave the country as soon as conditions allow.
But one week on, the 19-year-old has remained in Antarctica.
It’s part of a stand-off that hinges around how Mr Guo will leave the continent.
Mr Cisosto said Mr Guo is free to leave King George Island, but would need to do so without his plane — something the pilot refuses to do.
Mr Guo said he was talking with his lawyer to see if there was a way he could fly the plane out.
“I remain in Antarctica awaiting approval for my departure flight,” he told the Associated Press.
” I sincerely hope they give it to me soon so that I and my plane can continue with my original mission. ”
The regional prosecutor said it would be “almost impossible” for Mr Guo to receive permission to fly off the continent.
“I think the most likely scenario, if that plane does leave, is that … they dismantle it,” he said.
“They put it on a ship, and then in Chilean mainland territory, they can reassemble it if possible.”
For each day the disagreement draws out, Mr Guo must pay the Chilean Air Force “a very high cost” per day for maintenance and storage of the plane.
Ethan Guo is holding out hope he will be allowed to fly his 50-year-old light plane out of Antarctica. (Instagram: Ethan Guo)
Still, Mr Guo is not deterred from pushing for permission to fly his way off the continent.
“I’m fighting for my right to fly,” he told the New York Times.
“I’m fighting for my right to continue this mission to raise $1 million. Nothing is concrete yet.”