Suspected birdhits grounded two aircraft at Calcutta airport on Sunday.

A Mumbai-bound Indigo flight had to return moments after take-off following a suspected birdhit.

An Air India flight from Dibrugarh, which was scheduled to take off for Kathmandu later, had to be cancelled after the Air Traffic Control (ATC) feared a birdhit in the afternoon.

The Indigo flight, with 130 passengers on board, was airborne at 5.43am. Moments later, the ATC informed the pilot that a bird might have hit the aircraft. Following the standard safety regulations, the flight returned.

“A thorough inspection did not reveal any evidence of a birdhit and the flight took off for Mumbai again at 7.30am,” said an Indigo spokesperson.

The second suspected hit was reported around 12.30pm, when Air India’s Dibrugarh-Calcutta flight, with 90 passengers on board, was landing at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

The aircraft had to be grounded for the mandatory safety check. “There was no damage to the plane. Some bird feathers were found on it,” said an official.

“The same aircraft was scheduled to take off for Kathmandu. The flight had to be cancelled as there is a sunset limitation at Kathmandu airport. Flights for the Himalayan kingdom cannot take off from Calcutta after 2.30pm,” said an airline spokesperson.

The aircraft later took off for Delhi.

More than 100 passengers were left stranded following the cancellation of the Kathmandu flight.

A birdhit was reported at the airport only last Tuesday. A Mumbai-bound flight of Air India with 143 passengers on board was hit by a bird minutes after take-off at 6.47pm.

It had to make a priority landing because of a crack in the windshield.