UPDATED 8.57pm: Three injured passengers will remain in Southland hospital overnight after their light plane crashed in Southland.

The Cessna 182 crashed in a paddock in Thornbury around 3.30 this afternoon.

Police say it appears the plane was hit by a cross wind on takeoff, at which point the pilot tried to land in a nearby paddock.

The aircraft skidded, hit a wire fence, and rolled into a recently ploughed paddock where it flipped onto its roof.

The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.