UPDATE: Video captures I-182 head-on as it happens

An elderly Pasco man drove several miles the wrong way on Interstate 182 on Thursday before slamming head-on into a semi truck.

The driver, John C. Hockett, 88, was seriously hurt and flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said Kadlec Regional Medical Center spokesman Jim Hall.

The crash closed the eastbound lanes of I-182 near the exit to Columbia Basin College for nearly three hours at midday Thursday. Traffic was backed up as far as Road 68 while the Washington State Patrol investigated.

Based on the time and location of 911 calls, investigators believe Hockett started going the wrong way in his white Ford pickup near the Pasco-Kahlotus highway exit.

State Trooper Chris Thorson said Hockett was in the fast lane of eastbound I-182 when he hit the semi hauling an empty flat-bed trailer at 12:15 p.m.

The semi driver, Flabia F. Machuca-Ayala, 38, of Pasco, wasn't hurt, Thorson said.

Some witnesses shot video showing Hockett's pickup driving by other oncoming vehicles before hitting the semi in his lane near 20th Avenue.

Katherine Wiese and a passenger were headed west on the highway just before the crash.

Wiese said her passenger started shouting that someone was going the wrong way on the other side of the interstate.

"I didn't see him until he hit the truck," Wiese said, then "I see the truck just up into the air, with parts flying off it."

Wiese said she pulled over to the shoulder and called 911.

The backup caused at least one other crash on I-182, Thorson said.

The second collision involved a Geo Metro rear-ending a flatbed truck that was slowing for all the traffic.

Thorson said the driver in that wreck had broken ribs and a cut on his head. Medics took him to Trios Southridge Hospital for treatment.

This story was originally published May 17, 2018 at 1:00 PM with the headline "UPDATE: Video captures I-182 head-on as it happens."