A small plane that crashed Saturday afternoon along the Mission/Maple Ridge, B.C. border encountered some kind of engine failure, officials said.

The plane went down in the area of the Eighteen Pastures Golf Course about 5 p.m.

The pilot suffered non-life threatening injuries. A passenger was not injured.

Bill Yearwood of the Transportation Safety Board told CTV Saturday night that engine failure caused some parts of the engine covers to blow off during flight.

Jason Goodman was driving with his three sons when he heard the plane in distress. Then, it "dipped out of sight."

Goodman later followed first-responders as they hiked through dense brush to get to the wreckage of the plane.

The plane, he said, was "mangled."

It was pitched forward, nose to the ground. The left wing was severely damaged, he said.

"They were reassuring him that help was coming, help was on the way," Goodman told ctvbc.ca

Staff at the golf course said multiple fire trucks were on the scene. There was a golf tournament happening at the course Saturday.

Evin Hardin, who lives about a half-kilometre away, was sitting outside his house reading the newspaper when he said he heard the plane struggle.

"Didn't sound at all good," he told ctvbc.ca

He said he didn't see the plane strike the ground but heard the impact.

He said he could see smoke in the area.

The plane has been identified as a Seawind amphibian kit plane. It was built in 2000.

Stay tuned for more on this developing story.