FRANKLIN TWP, Beaver County — A Washington County man was killed and another man was injured Friday afternoon when their all-terrain vehicle crashed into a pond near the Zelienople Airport.

Beaver County deputy coroner Bill Pasquale pronounced the driver dead at the scene. He identified him as Robert Wright, 60, of Claysville. A passenger on the ATV was later flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

The two men were riding on trails in the woods near Bessor Road, which is less than a mile away from the airport.

Pasquale said the ATV went off the trail shortly after going down a hillside.

“For some reason it left the trail and went into the water,” he said.

The front of the ATV was submerged in the pond, which Pasquale said was several feet deep.

Wright was pinned under the vehicle for some time before he was pulled from the water by a bystander.

“But it was too late to save him,” he said.

Pasquale said Wright died of drowning and ruled the death accidental.

Franklin Township police are investigating the incident, the details of which were unclear Friday night.

Beaver County 911 center got a call from a bystander about 4 p.m. saying there was an ATV in a pond in that area, but the caller hung up and return calls went directly to voice mail, said Franklin Township Fire Chief Steve Bailey.

Not knowing an exact location, emergency responders started searching the woods from three entry points, he said.

Some of the other ATV riders drove away when they saw fire and police personnel approach, while there was at least one other person who helped out, Bailey said.

Pasquale said police are investigating whether there were other riders in a group with Wright and whether they left the scene.

The passenger was able to extricate himself and left the scene to go to a Beaver County hospital.

Pasquale said that man, who is from Beaver County, was later flown to AGH for treatment. His condition was not available Saturday morning.

The area has numerous strip mine ponds that drain into the Connoquenessing Creek. Firefighters used an off-road vehicle to get to the scene, but it had to go through mud and through 3-foot-deep water on the way, Bailey said.

“The logistics were difficult, but we managed to get where we needed to be,” he said.

The body was discovered about a mile into the woods, which made it difficult to get to and difficult to remove, Bailey said.