Transportation safety officials are investigating Friday's plane crash in central Nova Scotia. (Kevin Harvey/CBC)

A small plane crashed in the backyard of a home in central Nova Scotia on Friday, but the two men aboard were able to walk away.

The Fredericton-bound Champion aircraft reached an altitude of about 90 metres before crash-landing near Valley, in the Hillridge Drive area, just before 7 a.m. AT.

A Transportation Safety Board investigator said the pilot was taking off from a nearby private airstrip when he lost control.

"It looks like the weather was maybe a little bit bad, a little bit marginal, but from the eyewitnesses it doesn't sound like there was any kind of an engine problem," said Mike Cunningham, regional manager for investigations for the TSB.

Cunningham said there is extensive damage to the plane's fuselage and the passengers are lucky they were not more seriously injured.

One wing touched the ground, causing the small plane to cartwheel, Cunningham said. The propeller was sheared right off and the plane came to a rest on its side in the backyard.

Pamela Thornhill, a neighbour, heard the commotion when the plane crashed into the yard. (CBC)

No one was home at the time. The pilot and his passenger were walking around and talking with officers when paramedics arrived, RCMP said. They were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Pamela Thornhill, a neighbour, heard the commotion and called her husband, who happens to be a police officer.

"I usually hear his plane leave in the mornings, so I heard him take off but it was very quick, and then all of a sudden I heard a pop, like a bang," she said. "It was a bit scary. Too close for comfort, for my liking."

The TSB said the plane has been turned back over to the owner. Firefighters contained some fuel that was leaking from the plane, the RCMP said.