A Chinese language-American man making an attempt to fly solo to all seven continents was detained by authorities after reportedly touchdown with out permission in Antarctica.
Ethan Guo, 19, is making an attempt to set a document because the youngest individual to fly solo to all seven continents in a small plane in a quest to drum up donations for analysis on childhood most cancers.
Guo was detained by Chilean authorities on June 28 after breaking “a number of nationwide and worldwide rules” by altering his flight plans with out prior discover and touchdown on part of Antarctica the place the South American nation maintains a territorial declare, in response to CNN.
In accordance with the outlet, Chilean authorities mentioned that on June 28, Guo submitted a false flight plan and took off from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport within the southern Chilean metropolis of Punta Arenas as the one passenger and crew member aboard his Cessna 182Q plane.
Authorities mentioned that at one level throughout his flight, he turned off-course towards Antarctica.
“The accused supplied false data to the aeronautical authority. He submitted a flight plan indicating that he was going to fly over town of Punta Arenas,” mentioned Cristian Crisosto Rifo, the regional prosecutor for Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica.
“Nevertheless, he continued towards Antarctica with out informing anybody and with none authorization, touchdown on the airfield of Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base in Chilean Antarctic territory. With this behaviour, the accused critically endangered the protection of air visitors to Antarctica and the Magallanes area,” the prosecutor added.
Cristoso mentioned that after Guo landed in Antarctica, he was detained and formally charged with violating the Aeronautical Code and a number of nationwide and worldwide rules concerning routes to Antarctica.
On June 29, Guo’s lawyer mentioned he had skilled “issues” whereas flying.
Get every day Nationwide information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
“Whereas already within the air, he started to expertise a sequence of issues,” lawyer Karina Ulloa mentioned.
She added that Guo claimed that he was “conducting an exploratory flight to see if he might comply with this route or not.”
The Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Prosecutor’s Workplace mentioned on Wednesday that Guo remained within the Chilean sector of Antarctica awaiting a industrial flight to return to town of Punta Arenas.
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned that resulting from climate circumstances and the shortage of entry to Antarctica, it has not but been potential to rearrange a flight for Guo. The Chilean court docket has additionally introduced a 90-day investigation interval for Guo’s case, throughout which the younger pilot should stay in Chile.
Guo has been documenting his travels on Instagram for his 1.3 million followers. His newest publish exhibits him flying to the Philippines on June 23.
He started his quest to journey to all seven continents in Might 2024 in Memphis, Tenn., and has made a number of stops.
Guo’s authentic plan was to cowl 80,000 kilometres over 100 days with stops in 60 international locations however by June 23, he was on his 142nd day of journey. He hopes consideration to the journey will elevate as much as US$1 million for most cancers analysis, an ambition that began together with his cousin’s Stage 4 blood most cancers prognosis.
The 19-year-old pilot reached out to St. Jude Youngsters’s Analysis Hospital primarily based in Memphis and so they got here up with a plan for a way they may work collectively on his journey.
Guo has raised greater than $105,000 for his “flight in opposition to most cancers” as of Thursday afternoon, with the purpose of $1 million.
He began studying to fly at age 13 and 4 years later had his pilot’s licence, however insurance coverage corporations balked at overlaying a minor for his journey, so he needed to wait. Earlier than his current journey, he had clocked 700 flight hours and flown to all 48 states within the U.S.
Born in Tianjin, China, and at the moment residing in West Palm Seaside, Fla., Guo mentioned he needed to change into a pilot to problem himself. He foresees a profession in enterprise and tech, not aviation.
Guo’s mother and father had been apprehensive about his undertaking and actively tried to cease him, forcing him to do it on his personal with assist from volunteers, sponsors and different supporters, he advised The Related Press.
He understood the dangers, including, “Via my experiences — like an engine failure on the very starting of the journey … I used to be pressured to face the truth that I might die at any level of the journey.”
— With recordsdata from The Related Press
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
