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The AOPA has sent a letter to DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and DOI Secretary Doug Burgum asking for assistance in recovering an aircraft after it was seized following an emergency landing at the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota on Oct. 15.
The 1946 Stinson 108 was seized from the pilot, Darrin Smedsmo, by the Red Lake Band of the Chippewa Indians after an engine failure forced him to make a landing on the highway. The tribe has passed an air ban that prohibits any aircraft from operating at an altitude below 20,000 ft over the area and he had been flying at an altitude of 3,500 ft. The ban was made in response to Air Force plans to perform low-altitude, high-speed training flights through the reservation
Both Smedsmo and the Minnesota Pilots Association claim that it was the first time they had heard of this ban. A court date of Nov. 3 had been set to settle the matter but the hearing was canceled by the Red Lake Nation, according to MPR News.
"This assertion raises serious concerns, as regulation of navigable airspace is a matter of exclusive federal authority and administered by the Federal Aviation Administration," said Dan Pleasance, AOPA president and CEO, in the letter. "Moreover, a state highway--though it may traverse tribal land--remains a public right-of-way, and the emergency use of that roadway by an aircraft in distress is a permissible and lawful incident of aviation operations."
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The letter states that not returning the aircraft sets a precedent of discouraging pilots from making emergency landings when necessary and puts public safety at risk. It further states that the tribes claim of the airspace was in direct conflict with the national framework governing aviation and interstate commerce.
The Red Lake Tribal Council has indicated its willingness to engage in discussions with federal authorities and confirmed that the matter remains under investigation, according to AOPA.