Teenage solo pilot fined $30K for landing in Antarctica after being detained by authorities
Published on Aug 14, 2025 at 12:24 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Aug 14, 2025 at 8:26 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A teenage solo pilot with a plan to visit all seven continents in his light aircraft was fined $30K for landing in Antarctica after being detained by authorities.
Chilean officials reportedly detained the 19-year-old as he landed in Chilean Antarctic territory. His lawyer claimed that ‘complications’ led to an emergency landing just off the Atlantic coast on King George Island.
The teenage pilot, Ethan Guo, was undertaking the challenge to raise $1 million for cancer research, and he had to give his $30K fine to a children’s cancer charity.
Guo is also banned from entering Chilean territory for three years, even though all the initial charges against him of providing false flight information were dropped.
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Teenage solo pilot fined $30K for landing in Antarctica
Meet 19-year-old Ethan Guo, a teenage solo pilot with a plan to visit all seven continents in his light airplane. And it’s all for a very good cause – raising $1 million for cancer research.
Guo had reportedly told Chilean air traffic control that he was going to fly over the city of Puntas Arenas in Chile and would be taking off from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport.
According to the teenage solo pilot’s lawyer, ‘complications’ forced him to make an emergency landing in Antarctica.
He ended up landing on King George Island, a Chilean territory of Antarctica just off the Atlantic Coast, where he was promptly detained by Chilean authorities.
Life after being detained by authorities
Guo was charged with providing false flight information, but all the charges were dropped after he was detained on King George Island for two months.
He was also fined $30K, which he had to give to a children’s cancer charity, and banned from entering Chilean territory for three years.
He’s been grounded in Antarctica for the last six weeks due to bad weather. But once he gets his departure flight, he plans to continue with his mission in his trusty light aircraft and fly again.
@ethansbiography Day 81 of flying to all 7 continents! Route: OEDF OTBD Distance: 170 miles #flightagainstcancer #circumnavigation #plane #pilot #airplane #cessna #flying #saudi #saudiarabia #middleeast #egypt #desert #riyadh #dammam #heat #hot #qatar #doha #aroundtheworld #day81 ♬ original sound – Ethan Guo 🛩️
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Daisy Edwards is a Content Writer at supercarblondie.com. Daisy has more than five years’ experience as a qualified journalist, having graduated with a History and Journalism degree from Goldsmiths, University of London and a dissertation in vintage electric vehicles. Daisy specializes in writing about cars, EVs, tech and luxury lifestyle. When she's not writing, she's at a country music concert or working on one of her many unfinished craft projects.
