An Air India Express flight bound for Bengaluru from Vijayawada was cancelled on Thursday after suffering a bird hit, an airline official said.

According to the official, an eagle struck the aircraft’s nose while it was taxiing on the runway for takeoff.

Following the incident, the airline cancelled the flight and arranged alternate travel for passengers.

“The bird hit happened before takeoff. It occurred when the aircraft was taxiing on the runway...” the official told PTI.

This comes just days after a similar case involving an IndiGo aircraft. On September 1, a suspected bird strike mid-air forced an IndiGo flight to Kolkata to return and make a precautionary landing at Nagpur Airport, sparking panic among passengers, reports said.

The flight, carrying 272 passengers, landed safely with no injuries reported, officials confirmed.

"There has been a suspected bird strike on IndiGo's 6E812 Nagpur-Kolkata flight. We are trying to analyse what has happened," Abid Ruhi, Senior Airport Director, Nagpur Airport, Maharashtra, told ANI.

Data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that the Airbus A320-251N aircraft was diverted back to Nagpur. The suspected strike, which occurred shortly after takeoff, reportedly damaged the front section of the plane.

The flight was later cancelled, a senior official added.