The pilot died after his single-engine home-built plane crashed on June 9 near Canada's western city of Calgary, reports said.

He was the only person on board when the crash happened at the Springbank Airport, just 10 kilometers west of Calgary.

The pilot called the airport's air traffic control that there was an emergency on board, but then crashed seconds later, said airport manager Larry Stock.

Eyewitnesses said it appeared the engine cut out during take-off and the plane tipped into a ditch at the north end of the runway. The pilot died at the scene.

Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board are on their way to the airport to investigate.

This was the second crash involving a home-built aircraft at Springbank Airport in the past year.