A Chilean judge agreed to suspend lawsuits against teenage American pilots and social media influencers stranded on the remote Antarctic island since late June after being accused of landing there without permission.
When Ethan Guo landed in parts of Antarctica, where South American countries maintain territorial claims, he was trying to raise funds for cancer research and jump into solos on all seven continents. Prosecutors accused him of providing false information to ground management about his landing site.
On Monday, the judge approved an agreement between Guo’s attorneys and prosecutors to suspend the lawsuit on the condition that $30,000 will be donated to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation within 30 days. He will also have to leave the country and be banned from re-entering Chilean territory for three years.
Chilean prosecutor Christian Chrysost He told reporters Monday that Guo and his plane are still on Antarctica territory and they must also pay for “aircraft security and personal maintenance.”
Chilean authorities said Guo submitted a false flight plan and took off from Carlos Ibañez del Campo Airport in the southern city of Punta Arenas as the only passenger and crew member aboard the Cessna 182Q aircraft registered as the N182WT. At one point during that flight, authorities say he turned off the course towards Antarctica.
Guo’s lawyer previously said that the young pilot had experienced “complications” while flying.
“While already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications,” Karina Ulloa said, adding that Guo “arguing that he is making exploratory flights to see if he can follow this route.”
Guo says he is trying to raise $1 million for cancer research by becoming “the first person to fly to solos on all seven continents.”
