The AOPA said on Friday that it sent a second letter to federal officials on Thursday regarding an aircraft seizure dispute involving a pilot whose airplane has remained impounded since an emergency landing last year on the Red Lake Nation reservation in Minnesota.
The letter, which was addressed to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, follows an earlier letter AOPA sent in December concerning the Oct. 15, 2025, aircraft seizure involving pilot Darrin Smedsmo and his Stinson 108. Smedsmo was flying from Roseau to Bemidji, Minnesota, when an engine failure forced him to land on State Highway 89 near the western edge of Lower Red Lake.
In the letter, AOPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy Jim Coon said the aircraft has remained impounded for months following the landing and raised questions about how emergency landings are treated under federal aviation law.
“The current situation involving Red Lake Nation raises significant concern within the general aviation community,” Coon wrote. “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.”
The association also reiterated that federal regulations give the pilot in command authority to take necessary action during an in-flight emergency and that the regulation of navigable airspace is administered by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Smedsmo recently said he declined a proposed settlement related to the Red Lake aircraft seizure case.
“Well, I finally, finally, received a proposed settlement, and it was—it wasn’t acceptable. It wasn’t even a place to start with,” Smedsmo told PBS Lakeland News.
The settlement proposal, reportedly worth about $7,000, included a towing fee and a $5,000 donation to the Red Lake Nation Boys & Girls Club in exchange for the aircraft’s release.
In the letter to federal officials, Coon also wrote that “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.”