A flight instructor and three student pilots were injured when their training aircraft crashed into farmland in the Philippines.

The four individuals had just taken off from Olongapo City when their plane plummeted into an agricultural area in Iba town, Zambales, at around 9 am on Friday.

Police identified those onboard as flight instructor Captain Jacques Robert V. Papio and student pilots Angelo Josh Quinsasay, Althea Kisses Nunez, and Jericho Palma.

Police Major Rolando Ballon, chief of the Iba police, said: 'All four were rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and are currently in stable condition.'

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the aircraft, a Cessna 172 plane with tail number RPC 2211, was owned by a local aviation school, Topflite Academy of Aviation Inc (TAAI). It was conducting a standard flight training exercise when it crashed.

Authorities have since cordoned off the crash site as aviation officials launched an investigation into the incident.

CAAP said in a statement: 'CAAP has immediately suspended TAAI's flight training operations for a period of seven days.'

Officials have cordoned off the wreckage as they investigate the cause of the crash.