Roseau Pilot Rejects Red Lake Settlement Offer on Seized Plane

The Roseau pilot who had his plane seized by Red Lake Nation after making an emergency landing last October is rejecting a settlement agreement offered by the band.

Darrin Smedsmo was flying from Roseau to Bemidji on Oct. 15 when the plane’s engine seized up, forcing him to make an emergency landing on the west side of Lower Red Lake. When tribal authorities arrived to help with the situation, they cited a 1978 resolution prohibiting the flying of airplanes less than 20,000 feet over the Red Lake Reservation and then seized and impounded the airplane.

Smedsmo says he received a settlement offer from the band on Jan. 15, but he is rejecting that offer and requesting to be acquitted in tribal court.

“Well, I finally, finally, received a proposed settlement, and it was—it wasn’t acceptable,” he told Lakeland News. “It wasn’t even a place to start with.”

Part of that agreement states that the band will release the aircraft to Smedsmo upon the donation of $5,000 to the Red Lake Boys & Girls Club, along with payment of a $2,750 towing fee that occurred on the day of the incident. The agreement also says that Smedsmo has had his opportunity to appear in tribal court regarding the matter, but Smedsmo claims that still hasn’t happened.

“The fact was that I didn’t [appear in court],” he said. “They called the court off. So, you can’t even start with a document like that. And then I was supposed to pay a fee, and I’m just not going to do that.”

In Minnesota, there’s a 45-day procedural timeline in certain types of cases. It has been four months and 10 days since Smedsmo was forced to make an emergency landing on the reservation, and he has still not been charged with anything or presented a court date.

“It’s got to be done in 45 days,” Smedsmo asserted. “Well, that was Dec. 1, and we’re talking 2026, middle of February. They owe me something.”

In a Nov. 3 statement from Red Lake Nation on why they seized the plane, officials said the aircraft landed on reservation land without prior authorization or required coordination with tribal authorities, and that the landing created immediate safety, liability, and resource protection concerns for the band.

“They obviously don’t have anything against me, and so they’re just putting it off, putting it off, putting it off, hoping it will go away,” added Smedsmo. “And I’m not planning on going anywhere.”

Lakeland News reached out to Red Lake Nation for a comment regarding the matter but has not heard back from them yet.