Police Officer Jon A. Ryckman, Detroit Police Department, Michigan

Police Officer Jon A. Ryckman

Detroit Police Department, Michigan

End of Watch Friday, June 28, 1974

Add to My Heroes

Jon A. Ryckman

Officer Jon Ryckman and Officer Byron Soule were killed when their police aircraft collided with another aircraft over the Detroit River.

Officers Ryckman and Soule, Jr. were members of the Detroit Police Department’s aviation unit. Officer Ryckman as a pilot and Officer Soule, Jr., as an observer. Both officers had been working together for about a year and were primarily assigned to the airspace over Detroit’s eastside neighborhoods.

Around 12:45 a.m. on Friday, June 28, 1974, they were patrolling the east side and began heading towards Belle Island, a municipal park that sits on the Detroit River along the border with Windsor, in Canada. As they approached airspace on the river, a D-18 Beechcraft began to have engine problems and descended into an emergency landing. As the owner and pilot of the aircraft did this, he struck the officers' helicopter hard but continued his descent and crash landed at the Detroit City Airport.

Officer Ryckman and Officer Soule, Jr., a nine-year veteran of the force, plunged straight into the river, dying either in the air or upon impact. The Detroit Police Department hastily organized a rescue effort and were able to find Officer Ryckman soon after by dredging the river. It took through the morning to locate Officer Soule, Jr. The officers were the first fatalities of the department's aviation unit.

Officer Ryckman was a three-year veteran of the force. He is survived by his wife.

Bio

Age 26
Tour 3 years
Badge 4169

Incident Details

Cause Aircraft accident

helicopter crash

LODD Mapping FAQs

Most Recent Reflection

View all 14 Reflections

Heavenly Father, I come before You today grieved in heart over the divisions in our country; the United States of America. I grieve for every life lost to violence, regardless of color or creed. And I especially grieve this day over the senseless deaths of America’s Peace Officers whose sworn duty is to protect us from harm. Please grant comfort and hope to their families. I know from the Holy Scriptures in Romans 13 that Peace Officers have a sacred task, to enforce laws that protect the innocent and punish the guilty. I pray that You will protect them as they serve us. Give them wisdom, discernment, and a deep desire to serve You. Please surround every Peace Officer in our nation, the United States of America, with battalions of warring angels to protect them from harm. I stand in the powerful and mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ against every work of Satan intended to inflict injury and death on our Protectors. May Satan’s power be thwarted, in Your mighty and holy name, and his plans exposed by Your Light. In the mighty and holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, and the Mediator between us, Heavenly Father, in prayer, and by His authority, I pray! Amen.

Please find Encouragement, Comfort, Support, and Hope from God's Word:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
[Matthew 5:9 ESV];

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." [Psalm 23:4 ESV];

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
[John 15:13 ESV];

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." [Matthew 5:4 ESV];

"And he [Jesus] said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." [Luke 23:43 ESV], and;

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:16 ESV].

Chaplain Steven R. Closs, DDiv, MSBS, NACM, NCCA
Ordained Independent NACM Minister
The Badge 183 Peacemakers Prayer Ministry
Member: Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers - USA