Guwahati: An Air India flight with Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh on board was grounded at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Borjhar here on Friday as it developed a snag after being hit by a bird.

In a tweet, Biren Singh said the impact was "so powerful that it could make a hole". He said the incident occurred when the aircraft was descending and its wheel were unfolding. "God is gracious enough our...airplane landed safely in Guwahati...Staying at Guwahati today (Friday) along with around 160 passengers," he tweeted.

"Air India management in the Guwahati airport is so poor and ineffective. Till now many passengers are inside the airport without food and accommodation. Only three AI staff seen there. Extra flight also not possible till tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon as per AI authority," he said in another tweet.

LGBI Airport director B.K. Tailong told The Telegraph that the Delhi-Guwahati-Imphal-Delhi flight (AI 889) landed at the airport around 2pm. "It was scheduled to depart for Imphal at 3.35pm but could not take off because of a technical snag. Air India, however, has not informed me about any bird hit," he added.

On the harassment faced by passengers, Tailong said, "You will have to contact the Air India authorities about that. As far as my knowledge goes, all the passengers have been shifted to hotels in Guwahati and the Manipur chief minister will spend the night at Vivanta by Taj."

Airport manager of Air India, David Murmu, said there were 167 passengers on board the aircraft.

"Around 4pm it was confirmed that the flight will have to be grounded as repairing will take time. It took us some time to arrange for accommodation and vehicles to drop the passengers to hotels," he said.