Officer James Bossen was killed while piloting a Piper PA-32R, single engine, fixed-wing aircraft in which he and a private guard were transporting two prisoners for the Indiana Department of Correction.

   The flight departed Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, en route to McGhee Tyson Airport near Knoxville, Tennessee, when the aircraft crashed into the side of Sugar Loaf Ridge, a 3,000-foot high mountain in heavy fog and became engulfed in flames. The crash occurred in a rugged area of rural Carroll County about three miles north of the Virginia–North Carolina state line west of Interstate 77.

   All four men aboard, Officer Bossen, a 46-year-old guard as well as the 21- and 28-year-old handcuffed prisoners, were burned beyond recognition.

   Officer Bossen, from Indianapolis and a certified commercial pilot, had previously served with the Marion County Sheriff's Department for 12½ years. He was survived by his wife.

Military Service United States Army Vietnam War 1964–1967

Historical Notes • Officer Bossen is one of nine Indiana line of duty death incidents that occurred in another state. • He is one of five officers with a line of duty death who were certified pilots. • Officer Bossen is the first known airport law enforcement line of duty death in Indiana. • The Indianapolis International Airport Police Department was established as a law enforcement agency in 1971.