US teen pilot claims innocence after charges dropped in Antarctica flight case

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Ethan Guo, an American pilot and influencer who has been trapped in Antarctica for several weeks, maintained Wednesday that he is “innocent” of the accusations against him, after being charged by Chilean authorities with submitting a false flight plan to reach the White Continent.

Guo was charged on June 29 with handing false information to ground control and landing without authorization, but on Monday a judge dropped the charges as part of an agreement with his lawyers and Chile’s prosecutors. It requires the teen to give a $30,000 donation to a children’s cancer foundation within 30 days to avoid a trial. He must also leave the country as soon as conditions allow and is prohibited from reentering Chilean territory for three years.

According to Guo’s defense, the teen pilot was granted authorizations to deviate his initial route — from Punta Arenas, southern Chile, to Ushuaia, Argentina — and land at Teniente Marsh base in Chilean Antarctica due to “weather and technical circumstances.”

“My client’s actions are protected by a presumption of legality arising from the authorizations expressly granted by various DGAC ( Directorate General of Civil Aviation) officials,” his lawyer Jaime Barrientos said in documents handed to the court and shared with The Associated Press.

According to Barrientos, evidence was presented that “Mr. Guo informed the DGAC as soon as possible of the change to the filed flight plan, receiving express authorization to land at said aerodrome.”

Guo, who turned 20 during his stay in Antarctica in July and has maintained his innocence, said in a statement sent to AP that during his original journey he “encountered instrument failures and heavy, unreported icing conditions” which created “an imminent risk of a crash.”

“Due to these cascading failures, Mr. Guo requested and received explicit, direct permission to land at the Marsh base from a high ranking DGAC official via WhatsApp, an authorization that was subsequently confirmed by the base’s air traffic controller,” it said.

The influencer added that the court’s ruling last Monday was “a direct result of the prosecutor’s refusal to acknowledge this clear evidence.”

The prosecutor’s office has maintained in several interviews with local media that Guo has handed “ false information” to the respective authority and, by doing so, put at risk “the safety of global air traffic.”

“What the background indicates is that he always had the will and the knowledge that he wanted to reach Antarctica at all costs, putting at risk not only his life, but also the safety of global air traffic,” prosecutor Cristián Crisosto told local Radio Bio Bio in an interview Wednesday.

Guo made headlines last year when he began a trip in an attempt to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents and at the same time collect donations for research into childhood cancer.

But for the past six weeks, he has stayed at the Chilean Air Force base where he landed in June. He was not forced to stay there, only to remain in Chilean territory, but because of the severe winter in that part of the southern hemisphere, no flights were available. He has also been unable to fly his small plane, whose future remains uncertain.

Crisosto said that the plane would probably have difficulty leaving Antarctica because it does not meet the necessary regulations.

“That plane could leave Antarctica in pieces. But I don’t see it flying,” he warned.