Ethan Guo: the stranded young pilot

By Kristóf Somogyi, 2028

Published 9/10/2025

As this article is being written, Ethan Guo, a young pilot has just left Antarctica after almost three months of being stuck. Although he is on his way home, he owes 30 grand to a children’s cancer charity and is banned from Chile until 2028. How did Ethan end up in this complex situation?

Ethan Guo is a 20-year old Chinese-born American man residing in Tennessee who developed a passion for flying planes at age 13, and earned his private pilot’s license at 17. In 2021, his cousin was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, which motivated Guo to use his proficiency in aviation to raise money for cancer research. Guo formed his plan in 2024. He would fly by himself to all seven continents, becoming the first ever teenager to do so, while simultaneously raising money for St. Jude’s. He documented his journey on Instagram and TikTok, amassing over 1 million followers on the former. His small Cessna 182Q plane initially had no difficulty flying, and by June 2025 he had reached six continents, raised around $100,000, and traveled to such diverse places as Dubai, Switzerland, Myanmar, Egypt, and the Philippines. 

On June 28, Guo was approved to travel from Punta Areas in Southern Chile to nearby Ushuaia in Argentina. Guo got in his plane and began to fly to Ushuaia, but inexplicably changed his course midway through the flight and turned towards Antarctica. Guo landed on the Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base on King George Island in the Antarctic peninsula, which is owned by Chile. When Guo exited his plane, he was immediately surrounded by Chilean government authorities and escorted to a detainment center. Guo was formally charged with violating two articles of the Chilean Aeronautical Code by deviating from the flight plan he had officially submitted and making an unauthorized landing. Ethan turned 20 years old in July while in detainment and lost 20 pounds from the rations he was eating. In August, Guo was finally put to trial, where his defense argued that dangerous weather conditions forced him to divert his plane, and that a Chilean aviation official approved his request to land at Antarctica via a WhatsApp message. The judge was somewhat convinced, and agreed to drop all charges against Guo if he paid 30,000 to a children’s cancer charity and did not re-enter any Chilean territory for the next three years.

However Ethan couldn’t go home straight away. Much to Ethan’s dismay, the Chilean authorities did not allow him to fly his own plane off the island after the whole ordeal. Guo waited another month until a Chilean Navy ship finally picked him up and took him to mainland Chile. Guo intends to return to his home in Tennessee as soon as possible, where I assume his family will be astronomically angry with him. If it makes Ethan feel any better, it appears he did in fact become the first ever teenager to fly solo to all seven continents, although personally, I doubt it was worth it.