Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating a serious crash in East Gwillimbury that sent two York Regional Police officers to hospital Thursday afternoon.

The crash occurred around 4:15 p.m. on Mt. Albert Road north of Toronto. It was the second serious collision on the same road in the span of a few hours.

According to a news release from the Special Investigations Unit, two police officers were travelling westbound in an unmarked vehicle when it collided with a pick-up truck.

York Regional Police confirmed that Const. Andy Pattenden and Sgt. Kelly Bachoo were involved in the crash and airlifted to hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

The officers had to be extricated from the car. Both were conscious and talking as they were airlifted to hospital, said police.

The driver of the pick-up truck was also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Const. Blair McQuillan, who works with both of the injured officers, said the collision hit the tight-knit force hard.

“Everyday officers do put themselves on the line,” he said. “When things like this happen, people really rally. It’s very much a family situation.”

The SIU has assigned four investigators, three forensic investigators and a collision reconstructionist to probe the collision.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the lead investigator at 416-622-1886.

Earlier on Thursday, an elderly woman was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a two-vehicle head-on collision on Mt. Albert Road.

The crash occurred just before 1 p.m. west of Highway 48

The road is expected to remain closed as the police investigation continues.

The collisions occurred hours after southern Ontario was hit by the first major snowstorm of the season.

The OPP reported responding to more than 274 collisions in a 24-hour period during the storm, which blanketed the GTA in 10 cm of snow.

Anyone with information about the accidents is asked to contact police at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7704 or Crime Stoppers at 1-80-222-TIPS.

With a report by CTV Toronto’s Naomi Parness