Heather Boyd lives across the road from the crash site, and watched as an ambulance took the pilot away. (CBC)

The pilot of a small plane was able to walk safely away from a crash in the bush near the Carp airport in Ottawa’s rural west end late Saturday afternoon.

Police said the 40-year-old pilot was not seriously injured, but suffered a few scrapes and bruises. According to one witness, he was able to pull out his cellphone and start making calls.

The Zodiac plane was found nose first in the bush in the area of March Road and Diamond View Road, according to Ottawa Fire Service officials.

They said the plane did not catch fire, but there was a small fuel leak.

The pilot was taken away in an ambulance, according to Heather Boyd, who lives across the road from the crash site.

Boyd hadn’t seen the crash, but said a neighbour came to the door and alerted her to it.

“By this time he was sitting in [a] car just at the end of the driveway and he seemed to be all right,” Boyd said.

That was before emergency vehicles arrived, she said.

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

Police have not yet released the pilot's name.