An American teen, who attempted to solo fly to all seven continents for charity, was detained in Antarctica. Apparently, he flew to the continent without permission.
19-year-old Ethan Guo wants to become the youngest pilot to ever fly to all seven continents. However, he found himself in legal trouble now. The Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Prosecutor's Office accused him of submitting a false flight plan. Guo landed in Antarctica but submitted plans to land in Chile.
"The accused provided false information to the aeronautical authority. He submitted a flight plan indicating that he was going to fly over the city of Punta Arenas," Regional Prosecutor Cristian Crisosto Rifo said in a video to X.
"However, he continued on his way to Antarctica without any information or authorization, landing at the Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base in Chilean Antarctic territory," Rifo said.
Teen Set Out To Visit All The Continents, Ends Up Getting Arrested
It was part of a stunt to raise $1 million for cancer research. Police arrested the teen upon landing. "The accused not only violated the Aeronautical Code but also multiple national and international regulations regarding routes to Antarctica and access to the white continent," Rifo added.
Meanwhile, the teen has lawyered up. His attorney Karina Ulloa insists the teen ended up in Antarctica after experiencing several complications.
"While already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications," Ulloa told CNN, "He was conducting an exploratory flight to see if he could follow this route or not."
He's being held in Antarctica until he can return to Chile on a flight. This likely put a damper on his plans to fly to all the continents. The teen wants to raise $1 million for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital after his cancer developed stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"I admire him," Guo said. "He inspired me to take life more seriously and join the fight against cancer. I want to use every opportunity to raise awareness of childhood cancer and the necessity to increase research efforts to find prevention and treatment methods."
