Two men were seriously injured after a plane crashed while trying to land at an airstrip.

The Jodel DR1050 aircraft was returning to an airstrip on Jackrell’s Farm in Horsham after a roughly 20-minute flight but struck tall trees after aborting an approach to land.

The plane came down in a field just beyond the trees, seriously injuring the pilot and a passenger - the aircraft’s owner.

As there were no witnesses to the approach or the accident and both occupants were knocked unconscious by the crash, it was more than 90 minutes before the alarm was raised to the emergency services, when the aircraft owner regained consciousness and found the pilot’s phone.

An air ambulance arrived at the scene around 20 minutes later.

The Air Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) launched an investigation into the crash, which took place at around 11.35am on October 6 last year.

A report has now been released and found that the plane pivoted around the tree and landed almost vertically.

While the pilot, who recently flew an aircraft with a significantly different performance, could not recall the flight, the recollection of the aircraft owner meant it is “possible that in making the approach… the pilot had adopted the technique and visual picture he was used to from his regular flying in his own aircraft” and that the plane was “high and fast on the approach” to the airstrip.

The report into the crash found no technical anomalies that could have contributed to the accident.

The investigation urged pilots to give someone they know a time to expect a call after the flight is complete, as that “may enable appropriate assistance to be provided if things don’t go to plan”.

While the report could not speculate on the effect the delay had on the seriousness of the injuries faced by the two occupants, it said: “Such delays increase the risk of serious complication or fatality.”