Chile drops 'aviation endangerment' charges against teenage U.S. pilot
Guo, 19, from California, was ordered by a judge on Monday to leave King George Island, make a $30,000 donation to a children's cancer foundation and prohibited from re-entering Chilean airspace for three years.
Setting off from Memphis, Tenn., in May 2024, Guo's attempt to raise $1 million for the city's St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by becoming the youngest person to solo fly to all seven continents ran into trouble in June when he allegedly diverted 770 miles to the island from Punta Arenas in the far south of Chile.
The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics said Guo amended his flight plan for his Cessna 182 after departing Punta Arenas "without notifying the respective air traffic control centers of the airport" and accused him of providing false flight plan information to officials when he was detained at Teniente R. Marsh Airport.
Regional prosecutor Cristian Crisosto Rifo said at the time that Guo had submitted a flight plan that involved flying over the city of Punta Arenas and that by departing from the route without informing anyone, had "seriously endangered the safety of air traffic to Antarctica and the Magallanes region."
He was also alleged to have breached international law, with the GDCA saying "the unauthorized operation at the airfield in Antarctica also implied non-compliance with the Antarctic Statute."
The 1959 treaty governs international relations with regard to the seventh continent.
After having formal charges laid against him on June 29, one of which carried jail time, Guo was freed but ordered to remain in Chile pending the outcome of an investigation.
Guo's legal team argued that he was forced to make the diversion due to unforeseen complications during what they termed an "exploratory" test flight.
The teen, whose record-breaking feat is being tracked by at least 1.7 million followers on Instagram, TikTok and other social media, had already visited the six other continents before he ran afoul of the Chilean authorities.
Guo launched the fundraising effort after his cousin was diagnosed with Stage -4 blood cancer.
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