
Ethan Guo, a 19-year-old pilot from Memphis, Tennessee, was detained and charged with submitting a false flight plan before heading to the South Pole, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region.
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Guo began the adventure with the goal of raising $1 million for cancer research. The teenager flew solo aboard a Cessna 182Q.
The aviator departed from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport in Punta Arenas, Chile, claiming he planned to fly over the port city in the country’s south. However, he diverted his route to Antarctica.
“The accused provided false information to the aviation authority. He submitted a flight plan stating he would fly over the city of Punta Arenas,” said regional prosecutor Cristian Crisosto Rifo in a video published on X, formerly Twitter.

Rifo stated that the young man landed at Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Base on King George Island, a Chilean Antarctic territory.
He also emphasized that the aviator “violated the Aeronautical Code, as well as several national and international regulations regarding routes to Antarctica and access to the White Continent.”
Guo’s attorney, Karina Ulloa, said he encountered issues with the aircraft and ended up in Antarctica, where he is currently detained, waiting for favorable weather conditions to return to South America.
The young pilot will face a 90-day investigation in Chile.
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