U.S. teen influencer pilot accused of unauthorized Antarctic landing reaches deal to leave Chile

American pilot Ethan Guo poses for the photographer in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, before his take off from Geneva Airport for attempting a world record solo flight to all seven continents. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

A judge in Chile has agreed to suspend proceedings against a teenage American pilot and social media influencer who has been stuck on a remote Antarctic island since late June after he was accused of landing there without permission.

Ethan Guo was attempting to fly to all seven continents solo, raising funds for cancer research, when he landed on a part of Antarctica where the South American country maintains a territorial claim. Prosecutors accused him of providing false information to ground control about his landing point.

On Monday, a judge approved an agreement between Guo’s lawyers and prosecutors to suspend the proceedings on the condition that he donate US$30,000 to a children’s cancer foundation within 30 days. He must also leave the country and will be prohibited from reentering Chilean territory for three years.

Chilean prosecutor Cristián Crisosto told CNN on Tuesday that if Guo does not meet the conditions, the agreement would become void and the court proceedings would continue.

CNN is attempting to reach Guo for comment.

Crisosto said Guo and his plane were still in Antarctic territory and that he would also have to pay the costs of “aircraft security and personal maintenance.” In previous cases, he said, such costs have been roughly $600 a day.

Guo has several options to leave the Antarctic, Crisosto added, including boarding a military ship or commercial plane. The next commercial flight is expected to take off from the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas in early October.

Chilean authorities said that Guo had submitted a false flight plan and took off from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport in Punta Arenas as the sole passenger and crew member aboard a Cessna 182Q aircraft, registered as N182WT, in late June. At one point during that flight, authorities say he turned off course toward Antarctica.

Guo’s lawyer has previously said that the young pilot experienced “complications” while flying.

“While already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications,” Karina Ulloa said, adding that Guo claims “that he was conducting an exploratory flight to see if he could follow this route or not.”

Guo, whose website states he was trying to raise $1 million for cancer research by becoming “the first person ever to fly to all seven continents solo,” had broadcast his continent-hopping journey since last September to more than a million Instagram followers.

By Michael Rios, CNN