A 20 -year -old American pilot who travels all over the world to raise money for childhood cancer research has been stuck in Antarctica for more than a month after he was accused of illegally landing there.
Ethan Guo, then 19, began his trip in Memphis, Tennessee, in September 2024 to raise $ 1 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Guo has been documenting his Instagram trip.
At the end of June, his journey around the world derail after landing his 182q 182q of a single engine in a remote place in Chilean territory in Antarctica.
The Chilean authorities alleged that he was not authorized to land at the airport on King George Island and provided false flight plan data, according to a press release. He was accused on June 29 of delivering false information to land control and landing without authorization, said Associated Press.
But Guo and his legal team have denied having illegally landed on the continent, saying that he received permission through a text message in WhatsApp from a senior official with the General Directorate of Civil Aviation.
In a statement, their lawyers said “due to bureaucratic confusion about the permits of the flight rule,” Chilean officials told Guo that surrounds in the dark on Tierra del Fuego in South America before continuing his flight to Ushuaia, Argentina.
“While he did, he found instruments and heavy ice formation faults and not reported caused by a high cloud cover over the Andes,” their lawyers said.
The conditions created “an imminent risk of shock”, so Guo deviated on the ocean.
“Once on the ocean, he experienced engine -related problems,” they said. “Due to these waterfall failures, Mr. Guo requested and received an explicit and direct permit to land at the swamp base from a high -ranking DGAC official through WhatsApp, an authorization that was subsequently confirmed by the base air traffic controller.”
Jaime Barrientos Ramírez, Guo’s lawyer, shared a screenshot of his message to the official.
“Can I land in SCRM?” He asked, referring to the King George Island airport.
The official replied: “Yes” with a thumb emoji.
On Monday, the charges against Guo withdrew as part of an agreement that he donated $ 30,000 to a foundation for children’s cancer in Chile. The authorities said he has 30 days to make the donation and he is also prohibited from entering the Chilean territory for three years.
In a series of publications in X, Guo said his case had been withdrawn, but officials will not let him fly. According to the AP, the region is experiencing a hard winter climate and there are no flights available for Guo to leave.
“It’s frankly crazy,” NBC Nightly News told Wednesday. “They say I’m free, they say the plane is free, but they didn’t let me go. They didn’t let me fly.”
Guo said his food is rationed at the Antarctic Air Base and his communication with the outside world is limited.
In an Instagram story, Guo wrote that his plane is “in flight conditions”, but officials “do not let me fly back.”
It is not clear why Chilean officials will not let Guo leave. NBC News contacted his lawyers on Thursday to comment.
