Bhubaneswar, March 10: Landing of a Delhi-Bhubaneswar GoAir flight carrying nearly 100 passengers and crew members was delayed after the aircraft was suspected to have taken a bird-hit at the Biju Patnaik International Airport this morning.

The flight took off from New Delhi at 6am and was about to land in Bhubaneswar at 8.10am today, but it had to hover in the air for nearly 20 minutes after the suspected bird-hit incident.

The flight was scheduled to return to New Delhi at 8.40am, but was delayed by nearly 50 minutes as a technical team made an elaborate inspection. The flight finally took off at 9.20am.

Though airport authorities attributed the delay to a technical snag, sources said that the inspection team had found bloodstains on body of the aircraft, which indicated a possible bird-hit.

"The flight suffered some technical glitches, which was resolved at the airport by our team early this morning," said airport director Sharad Kumar.

Incidents of bird hits are not new at the Biju Patnaik International Airport with several flights in the past having got delayed or forced to make emergency landings.

The city airport has witnessed 69 bird-hit cases in the past five years. It is the first such incident recorded this year.

The airport authorities had formed an expert committee in 2015 to study the type of birds hovering around the airport area.

The team had identified nearly 50 species such as lapwings, black kites and gray francolin that pose threat to flights.

The survey also discovered nearly 100 other species of birds around the airport area.

Following the report, the airport authorities, along with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), had adopted several measures to keep birds away from the area.

They had used laser guns and cracker launchers to control the bird menace.

had also made attempts to create awareness about the issue among residents and traders, apart from chopping off tree branches in the airport area.

Later, the civic body demolished several shops selling chicken, meat and fish at Siripur, Baramunda, Khandagiri, Bharatpur, Rental Square, Fire Station and in the Kargil slum areas to keep the birds at bay.

"We are keeping an eye on fish and meat stalls around the airport area. Airport authorities should also take necessary steps to avoid such incidents. We are doing our bit," said BMC mayor Anant Narayan Jena.

The airport was one of the 20 such facilities in the country that were under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation scanner for possible bird-hit threat.

These facilities also face threat from wildlife intruding into the airport space.