The same stretch of road that claimed 2009’s only fatality on Whidbey from a car crash has now claimed the life of 88-year-old Kenneth Lange of Oak Harbor.

Lange’s car, a 1987 Nissan Maxima, left the pavement as he drove west on E. Fakkema Road near the intersection with Taylor Road at about 11:40 p.m. Thursday. The car struck an embankment, flipped and came to rest on the passenger side. Lange was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the Washington State Patrol.

North Whidbey Fire and Rescue, Island County Sheriff’s Office, the State Patrol and Whidbey General EMS responded to the one-car crash. North Whidbey firefighters secured the flipped car and used the Jaws of Life to free Lange, who was trapped inside.

“They cut at the sunroof and the lower part of the windshield,” said Fire Chief Marv Koorn in an interview Friday morning.

A Whidbey General EMS unit transported Lange from the accident to Crescent Harbor Elementary where the Oak Harbor Fire Department had set up a landing zone for an Airlift Northwest medical transport helicopter.

Lange was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle at about 1:15 a.m. Friday. He died of his injuries later that morning. The accident is still under investigation by the Washington State Patrol.