AOPA Seeks Federal Intervention After Airplane Seized by Minnesota Tribe
The pilot, Darrin Smedsmo, was flying his Stinson 108 over Lower Red Lake while en route from Roseau, Minnesota, to Bemidji, Minnesota, on October 15, 2025, when his engine suffered a catastrophic failure. As a result, he landed safely on State Highway 89, along the western edge of the lake.
The tribe seized the airplane, citing a 1978 tribal resolution that claims jurisdiction over airspace up to 20,000 feet, and bans overflights of “any airplanes.”
In its first letter to Secretaries Burgum and Duffy in December, AOPA urged their agencies to intervene, and pointed out that this “assertion raises serious concerns, as regulation of navigable airspace is a matter of exclusive federal authority and administered by the Federal Aviation Administration.”
In this week’s letter, AOPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy Jim Coon reiterated that the federal government has “exclusive sovereignty” over airspace, and that regulations require “the pilot in command to take whatever action is necessary to protect life and property.”
Coon said the case has wider implications beyond seeking the return of Smedsmo’s airplane.
“The current situation involving Red Lake Nation raises significant concern within the general aviation community. If an emergency landing made in the interest of safety can be treated as trespassing and result in confiscation of an aircraft and substantial penalties, it creates uncertainty for pilots who may be forced by circumstances beyond their control to land wherever safety requires,” wrote Coon.
In a recent interview, Smedsmo said he received a settlement offer for more than $7,000—which today’s letter highlighted—to cover the towing fee and a donation to the Red Lake Nation Boys and Girls Club, which Smedsmo said, “wasn’t acceptable.”
“They obviously don’t have anything against me and so they’re just putting it off, putting it off, putting it off, hoping it’ll go away and I’m not planning on going anywhere,” added Smedsmo.
“The continued impoundment of an aircraft following a legitimate emergency landing raises serious questions about how federal aviation law and safety protections are being applied in this situation,” said Coon.
Without a resolution, Coon added that AOPA may pursue a “legislative remedy to clarify and reaffirm the protections afforded to pilots who are compelled to make emergency landings in the interest of safety.”
