MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Antarctica: Pilot clinches plea deal and may leave Chile

Guo turned 20 days during his stay in Antarctica

After being detained in Antarctica for several weeks, American pilot and teenage influencer Ethan Guo has had the charges against him dropped by a Chilean judge. Guo was originally accused of providing a false flight plan and landing his plane without authorization on a Chilean-claimed territory in Antarctica.

 As part of the agreement, Guo, who turned 20 days during his stay in Antarctica, must pay a US$30,000 donation to a children's cancer foundation within 30 days, leave the country as soon as weather permits, and is banned from re-entering Chile for three years.

Guo, who maintains his innocence, stated that he was forced to divert his flight due to “instrument failures and heavy, unreported icing conditions” and that he had received explicit permission to land via a WhatsApp message from a high-ranking official.

The prosecutor's office, however, insists that he endangered air traffic safety by submitting false information.

Guo, who was on a mission to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents and raise money for cancer research, has been stranded at a military base since his landing in June.

His defense claimed that the teen pilot was granted authorizations to deviate his initial route — from Punta Arenas, southern Chile, to Ushuaia, Argentina — and land at the Teniente Marsh Base in Chilean Antarctica due to “weather and technical circumstances.”

”My client’s actions are protected by a presumption of legality arising from the authorizations expressly granted by various DGAC ( Directorate General of Civil Aviation) officials,“ his lawyer, Jaime Barrientos, said.

”What the background indicates is that he always had the will and the knowledge that he wanted to reach Antarctica at all costs, putting at risk not only his life, but also the safety of global air traffic,” Prosecutor Cristián Crisosto contended.

It is yet to be determined whether Guo's single-engined Cessna 182 is still airworthy.