The Transportation Safety Board has concluded its investigation into a fatal plane crash near Black Diamond last summer and have found that the pilot crashed into some hay bales when attempting to take off from a field.

Emergency crews were called to the scene of a plane crash at about 7:15 p.m. on July 29, 2018.

When they arrived, they found the wreckage of a small plane in a field and two male victims.

One of the men taken to hospital in stable condition while the other was pronounced dead at the scene.

The report, released on Friday, said that the plane, a Piper PA-28-161 Warrior II, had initially taken off from the Claresholm Industrial Airport with the two men, who were both registered pilots, on board at about 1:00 p.m.

The plane landed in a mixed-hay field east of Black Diamond about half an hour later. Both occupants then proceeded to work in the field for the remainder of the afternoon.

The TSB report says at approximately 7:00 p.m., the two men prepared to leave the field to return to Claresholm, getting back into the plane and initiating a take-off run while heading east from the southwest corner of the field.

The plane headed along the field, towards a set of hay bales that had been stacked in the opposite corner, but the pilot ended up failing to climb sufficiently to clear them, leading to the crash.

The investigation by the TSB found that neither of the occupants were wearing their available shoulder harnesses and both men suffered head injuries in the crash.

The report also stated that while the field was not a prepared landing surface, it had been used for the past two years and the pilots had flown in and out of the area successfully five times with the hay bales in position at the end of the runway.

The TSB report recommends that all air performance calculations should be completed before the flight to ensure all performance is at the level expected by the crew.

It added that shoulder harnesses, an important piece of safety equipment, must always be worn to reduce the risk of injury or death in a crash.