COLUMBUS – An 85-year-old West Edmeston man was airlifted to Syracuse by an emergency helicopter after his car struck the back of a parked 18-wheeler Thursday.

At around 1:30 p.m. yesterday, Kermit G. Spooner was heading west on County Route 25 in the Town of Columbus when his Chevy Lumina unexpectedly swerved across the yellow divide line and hit a parked truck. The tractor-trailer was in a lot across from a yogurt manufacturing plant owned by Agro Farma, where it was heading to be loaded with a shipment.

New York State Trooper Benjamin Barton said the trailer’s rear bumper was partially extended into the opposite lane from Spooner and was unoccupied at the time of the collision.

“For some reason, we have yet to determine, the vehicle crossed into the opposite lane where it hit the back of the tractor-trailer,” he said.