Jon A. Ryckman

Detroit Police Department — Detroit, MI

Accident

End of Watch June 28, 1974

Age 26

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Badge 4169

The Vigil Panel 114 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 249

Incident

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.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

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Last updated: August 2, 2026

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Ryckman gave the Detroit Police Department 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Detroit community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Ryckman.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Detroit Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Detroit, Wayne County, MI

Platform Identity detpd.wayne.mi.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 28, 1974

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Age 26

Badge Number 4169

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

The Sacrifice · Accident

Jon is one of 8,275 officers lost to accidents in the United States, 30% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1974, 98 officers in the United States were lost to accidents, the 9th heaviest of 174 years on record. The heaviest was 1929, with 118.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Jon was 26. Of the 7,718 lost to accidents in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 29 and 46; the middle age was 36. Jon had served 3 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.