Update: Truck driver was trapped upside down in twisted wreckage for hours north of Pasco

A truck driver was flown to a Richland hospital by air ambulance Monday morning after his semi-truck crashed north of Pasco.

The driver was trapped for two hours in the mangled, overturned truck loaded with cow feed.

Mechanical issues are being investigated as a possible cause, said Travis Rogers with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver’s name was not immediately available.

The truck tractor with two trailers crashed at 7:30 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 17 and Road 170 near Mesa about 30 miles north of Pasco.

The driver was trapped inside upside down until the Franklin County Fire District 3 to extricate the man by cutting through the metal while assisting County Public Hospital #1 ambulance service in responding to the wreck.

While the man appeared to have non life-threatening injuries, Rogers said Life Flight was called because the driver was trapped for hours, as well as the severity of the crash and distance to the nearest hospital.

He was flown to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 1:30 PM.