A little over two months ago, I covered how a 19-year-old (at the time) American pilot was flying a Cessna 182 around the world to raise money for cancer research. However, he hit a snag when he flew to a part of Antarctica that Chile claims as part of its Atlantic territory.
He was detained, and accused of landing there without permission. There’s now an update, as he’s finally being released, and we’re also getting a different version of events (thanks to DENDave for flagging this).
In this post:
Chile agrees to release detained American pilot
American pilot Ethan Guo has been released from a Chilean air base in Antarctica, after being detained there for over two months. He has been ordered to make a $30,000 donation, and is banned from entering Chilean territory for a period of three years. He’s expected to pay his penalty by making a donation to childhood cancer research.
While Ethan is finally allowed to leave Antarctica, his plane is still being held, so that’s going to be tricky, especially since he was leasing it for this round the world journey.
The young American was accused of landing his plane without permission, after giving officials a false flight plan. He had departed Punta Arenas Airport (PUQ), near the southernmost point of Chile, and had filed a flight plan to fly to Ushuaia (USH), even further south, in Argentina. However, according to the Chilean prosecutor, he instead conducted an unauthorized 771-mile flight to Antarctica’s Teniente R. Marsh Airport on King George Island (TNM).
Ethan’s attorney claimed that this narrative wasn’t correct, and that “while already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications,” which caused him to end up in Antarctica.
That narrative sounded mighty suspicious, and my assumption was that he conducted this flight for obvious reasons (to reach his goal of flying to all seven continents), and figured this was a case where it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. However, is there really more to the story?
Does the American pilot actually have a good explanation?
At first, I (like many others) thought the explanation by Ethan’s attorney was complete malarkey. I mean, he set off to make the short 165-mile flight to Ushuaia, and then magically ended up in Antarctica due to issues?
However, the below video provides a more detailed explanation of Ethan’s version of events.
Let me summarize them, and then you can make of this what you will:
- Ethan’s plan was to fly to Ushuaia, where his team was reportedly already waiting for him, and to then fly to the Argentinian base in Antarctica
- Since June is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, he left very early in the morning while it was still dark, to fly to Ushuaia, and land in the daylight
- While enroute, he countered several issues — unreported icing, and his Garmin GPS went out (though he had a backup attitude indicator he could use)
- Without a proper GPS, he was concerned about spatial orientation issues, especially if circling, given the mountainous terrain
- So he decided to instead fly straight and level and to the south, out over the water, where both of those problems would pose less of a risk; there are limited airports in the area, and one was still closed (due to darkness), another was surrounded by a large mountain range, and others were reporting bad conditions and icing
- Ethan considered his choices for an hour as he circled in the darkness, and he determined that King George Island was the best option — weather conditions were good, there were no mountains, etc.
- Ethan tried to use his radio, but couldn’t get in touch with Chilean air traffic control
- Thanks to having Starlink onboard, Ethan made contact with Chilean air traffic control via WhatsApp, and asked if he could land on King George Island, and was told yes, and to contact the tower there
- When Ethan landed at the base, everything seemed fine, but the mood shifted after an hour, when he was told to follow authorities, and was put into detention
- He spent the entire time in a research dorm, where he was given little food, didn’t have much access to the outside world, etc.; he couldn’t even go outside unless escorted, and lost 20 pounds while detained
I’m not sure what to believe here. So when he left Punta Arenas, did he really have no intention of flying to Antarctica? Or was he thinking “if I can come up with a good reason to fly to King George Island, let me do that?” To his credit, the explanation sounds sort of plausible, or at least as plausible as anything like this could be in such a situation.
Like, he’s trying to fly around the world and visit Antarctica, and whoops, how convenient that he was having issues at an exact point where he had the opportunity to fly to Antarctica. Like I said, it’s entirely possible it’s true, and it’s at least a good explanation.
He did provide the receipts of messaging authorities, and even got permission in some form. So it seems a little ridiculous for authorities to be outraged, since clearly someone approved it. Two months is a long time to spend trapped on a remote base, and I’m not sure what exactly that was supposed to accomplish? At least he gets a cool story out of the whole thing…
Bottom line
The American pilot who flew to Antarctica in late June 2025 has finally been released, after being detained for over two months. He agreed to make a $30,000 charitable donation and can’t return to Chile for three years, but is now at least three.
I’m not sure what to think here. Authorities in Chile claimed he violated rules by flying to King George Island, while he claimed he experienced a series of issues, and received permission to land there.
What do you make of this Antarctica detention and release situation?
This kid looks like a smug POS.
He got what he deserved.
Hard to believe the kid was so scared of the mountains and the dark at his planned airport that he flew 700 miles ACROSS THE DRAKE PASSAGE to an Antarctic base IN THE WINTER... that he wasn't planning (lol) to fly to so he wouldn't be familiar with it... in a tiny prop-driven Cessna...really??
Seems like a nice kid from the description, but Americans have a real problem with "following the rules of other places"....
Hard to believe the kid was so scared of the mountains and the dark at his planned airport that he flew 700 miles ACROSS THE DRAKE PASSAGE to an Antarctic base IN THE WINTER... that he wasn't planning (lol) to fly to so he wouldn't be familiar with it... in a tiny prop-driven Cessna...really??
Seems like a nice kid from the description, but Americans have a real problem with "following the rules of other places". I'd say he was going for the stunt and checking off his 7th continent (and probably actually had no follow on plans from the Argentine base, that would be the thing to investigate).
Interesting they held him there for 2 months... curious about the calorie deprivation (his weight loss), different sized rations there or intentional?
I am curious if Ben can follow up what happens with his leased aircraft, or if he just ended up buying it when he fails to return it.
Also - if we want to be picky...he never made it to the mainland of Antartica....so i think he never did all 7 continents.
Almost certainly more misrepresentations from Ethan Guo.
Plenty of ADSB coverage on June 27th when he makes a roundtrip flight from Punta Arenas then suddenly no coverage on his 'ill fated' flight on June 28th where the best emergency option just happened to be across the Drake Passage?
'x-doubt.jpg'
i want to see the coverage indicating the circling....
As an airline pilot instructor, GA pilot & CFI and having been to Antarctica via National Geographic, this story has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Antarctica requires a LOT of "paperwork" and permissions to go there, especially if he's flying. You don't just "show up at the door". IF he was really in trouble, he would have either declared "PAN PAN PAN" or "MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY" which is internationally recognized as an emergency....
As an airline pilot instructor, GA pilot & CFI and having been to Antarctica via National Geographic, this story has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Antarctica requires a LOT of "paperwork" and permissions to go there, especially if he's flying. You don't just "show up at the door". IF he was really in trouble, he would have either declared "PAN PAN PAN" or "MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY" which is internationally recognized as an emergency. As far as the comment regarding "full tanks", I'm assuming that he was not planning on getting much 100 Octane there. And...to use funds for the alleged "charity" to pay for his mistakes...low life AND is then considered 1099 INCOME! "Pay the piper!"
Rich American kid wants to do something that is, in theory, out of his reach, so he does it anyway and when trouble comes parrots whatever lie his daddy’s lawyer tells him to repeat.
He knew what he was doing and there was clear intent (i.e. setting up the team in Ushuaia so he would have plausible deniability). He can suck up the consequences.
If the visibility was that poor he could have returned to Punta Arenas or even further north. He knew what he was doing and should stop lying.
You don't fuel a Cessna 182 with a full tank if the intent is a 143nm flight. That alone raises a big flag as to his original intent.
Does no one think I'm going overboard in the comments? My paranoid schizophrenia has been acting up so I can't help but make troll responses to everyone nonstop.
I have you on Ignore.
No! The only person you're allowed to ignore on this site is boogeyman Tim Dunn!!
I am totally normal and contribute to healthy discourse!!!
No! The only person you're allowed to ignore on this site is boogeyman Tim Dunn!!
I am totally normal and contribute to healthy discourse!!!
I have you on Ignore.
I have you on Ignore.
Permission to land at an airport (especially given an emergency situation) is different than having clearance to legally enter the country. Other than a few cases of airports turning off lights or parking trucks on the runway to prevent a hijacked plane to land (because they didn't want it to become their problem, or get involved), an airplane in an emergency without another viable place to land won't be refused. That doesn't mean it's legal...
Permission to land at an airport (especially given an emergency situation) is different than having clearance to legally enter the country. Other than a few cases of airports turning off lights or parking trucks on the runway to prevent a hijacked plane to land (because they didn't want it to become their problem, or get involved), an airplane in an emergency without another viable place to land won't be refused. That doesn't mean it's legal or "okay" to do it. But in peacetime, you're not going to be told to piss off, go crash somewhere in the ocean. Doesn't mean the plane and contents including people won't be seized/arrested.
Exactly. The kid played a stupid game and thankfully didn’t win the stupidest prize of them all. I could quibble about whether or not they really needed to detain him or just quickly deport him with the same penalties as he was given now, but at the same time civil or criminal penalties in a modern country should have some level of due process, so if they hadn’t detained him and just immediately deported him...
Exactly. The kid played a stupid game and thankfully didn’t win the stupidest prize of them all. I could quibble about whether or not they really needed to detain him or just quickly deport him with the same penalties as he was given now, but at the same time civil or criminal penalties in a modern country should have some level of due process, so if they hadn’t detained him and just immediately deported him instead there wouldn’t have been enough time for those penalties to be properly levied against him.
The victim card + good cause is working outside snowflake USA.
"to fly to Ushuaia, and land in the daylight"
-So according to his plan, why isn't it daylight yet? Failed math?
Without a proper GPS, he was concerned about spatial orientation issues
-Poor airmanship? Lack of piloting skills?
"considered his choices for an hour as he circled in the darkness"
-What about the plan to land in daylight?
-So...
The victim card + good cause is working outside snowflake USA.
"to fly to Ushuaia, and land in the daylight"
-So according to his plan, why isn't it daylight yet? Failed math?
Without a proper GPS, he was concerned about spatial orientation issues
-Poor airmanship? Lack of piloting skills?
"considered his choices for an hour as he circled in the darkness"
-What about the plan to land in daylight?
-So much fuel for such a short trip, so much that his (alleged) diversion is doable.
"tried to use his radio, but couldn’t"
"Thanks to having Starlink onboard"
-He got the decimal wrong or on a frequency that's not 24/7?
-He has WhatsApp working. But not his phone GPS?
-Sure phone vs Garmin, but airmanship skills?
"he was given little food, didn’t have much access to the outside world"
-It's called being detained. It happens when you break the law.
Until proven otherwise, I hope nobody will donate to this (alleged) scammer ever again. Who knows how much scam happened to fund this trip and a shiny Cessna.
How would he have been treated if he was Chilean citizen illegally entering US territory?
How would he have been treated if he was Josh Cahill or Sam Chui.
Probably very different depending if he was Josh Cahill or Sam Chui.
Would you rather be Josh Cahill or Sam Chui? LOL!
While he shouldn’t have been detained for months, since it seems as though he ultimately received permission to land, I’m still not sure I buy his excuse (and even if the detention was unwarranted the terms of his release still seem justified even with this new information). Obviously, Antarctica was always going to be the most difficult place for him to get permission to land and it just seems mighty convenient that he ran into...
While he shouldn’t have been detained for months, since it seems as though he ultimately received permission to land, I’m still not sure I buy his excuse (and even if the detention was unwarranted the terms of his release still seem justified even with this new information). Obviously, Antarctica was always going to be the most difficult place for him to get permission to land and it just seems mighty convenient that he ran into these issues (that he chose to mitigate in a way that would allow him to land in Antarctica) on this particular flight.
Maybe I’m just inherently skeptical because this whole thing seems more like an self-aggrandizing and attention-grabbing stunt that he’s characterizing as raising money for cancer as a way to legitimize his more self-serving aims. Like it just seems like he came up with the idea to get attention by flying to every continent and first and added the cancer research aspect second so he could look like he was doing this for more selfless reasons. I hope that I’m wrong and that all of this money goes to good organizations that need the money and will be able to use it well, but I’m always a little sus of any charitable effort that seems more about the person raising the money than the cause itself.
100%
100%. Just one correction - you don’t hope to be wrong, you know you’re right.
Well I know I’m right, but I can still wish it weren’t the case lol.
I’d like to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge
For cancer research.
Why is this the first we are hearing about this WhatsApp message? For his sake I hope it’s true but seems an attorney has been helping shape a narrative
It’s clear he had good intentions and the Chilean authorities completely overreacted here.
That's what Putin said.
That's what Netanyahu said.
That's what Trump said.
That's what Obama said.
I'm sure Cowgirl Kristie is busy trying find another 3rd world country because of this. And as her ad says, the runway will be your home and we'll give you a free ticked (to hell) along with compensation.
Yeah if he contacted them and has evidence of an affirmative response - he stated an intention and received permission
Surprised this wasn't in the media more broadly while he was detained
He left a Post-it note posted on a door at PUQ
Somebody wrote OK back on the same paper.
"he stated an intention and received permission"
if he is able to produce the whatsapp message, that ought to be end of.
End of what?
WhatsApp isn't an ATC communication channel.
For all I know, Tim Dunn could be giving permission under his alter ego fake WhatsApp account.
I would guess approval was given because they thought he had a legitimate emergency. Once they had more information on what he was likely up to the situation changed and he was detained.