SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- After spending nearly two months unable to leave Antarctica with his aircraft, American pilot and influencer Ethan Guo, 19, is set to return to Punta Arenas aboard an icebreaker in early September.
Chilean authorities said Guo altered his flight plan and landed without authorization on the continent June 1, and they forced his small aircraft to remain at the Chilean air base in Antarctica at which he set down.
Officials said Guo was not barred from leaving, but he chose to stay at the base until the dispute was resolved. Prosecutors argued that the 19-year-old American influencer broke "multiple national and international regulations" by changing his flight plans without prior notice and landing in a sector of Antarctica claimed by Chile.
"Ethan Guo will board the icebreaker Almirante Viel in early September, which will allow him to return to Punta Arenas. I want to thank the Chilean Navy for helping resolve this humanitarian problem, because he had no way to leave Antarctica other than flying his own aircraft, which was not authorized," his lawyer, Jaime Barrientos, told UPI.
Since 2024, Guo has led the campaign "Flight Against Cancer," aiming to become the first pilot to fly solo across all seven continents in a Cessna 182Q, while raising $1 million for childhood cancer research after his cousin was diagnosed with the disease.
