In October, the Minnesota Pilots Association received a call from a member who experienced engine failure with his airplane on a VFR flight from Roseau to Bemidji, Minnesota. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing on a highway, but the highway was on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, and the airplane was impounded by the tribe.
Apparently, the Red Lake Band of the Chippewa Indians established an air band prohibiting the flying of any airplane over lands at any altitude below 20,000 feet.
A tribal trial was to be held on November 3, 2025, to determine the fate of the aircraft, but the pilot was notified by the chief prosecutor that the hearing had been postponed.
The Minnesota Pilots Association and its President, Randy Corfman, is working with AOPA and the FAA to clarify the issues facing this pilot, and any pilots who fly near this airspace, and suggests that pilots plan their flights accordingly to avoid Indian reservation airspace.
According to Corfman, the FAA has not restricted flights over the reservation. “As such, there are no markings signifying reservation boundaries or restrictions on VFR or IFR charts in the area in question.”