An elderly motorist and his passenger were airlifted for medical treatment after an afternoon wreck Thursday on Thompson Bridge Road at Enota Drive.

Gainesville Police Lt. Brian Kelly said 96-year-old Carl Ridley pulled his southbound Mercedes-Benz into the path of a northbound Mitsubishi Montero on Thompson Bridge Road as Ridley was attempting to turn left onto Enota Avenue. The wreck occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday.

Gainesville firefighters had to cut away the mangled car’s roof to extract Ridley and a passenger, 80-year-old Betty Nix of Cornelia. It took rescuers more than 30 minutes to free Nix from the wreckage.

Both were flown by helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital, where their condition was not immediately available. Officials said the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The driver of the Mitsubishi, 27-year-old Tamara Davis of Gainesville, was not seriously injured in the accident, Kelly said. Ridley was at fault in the wreck for failure to yield, Kelly said.

Midday traffic on Thompson Bridge Road at the crash scene was routed up Enota for about an hour.