All passengers and the crew were safe and sound, according to airport sources.
The Jetlite flight S2364, which took off from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 5:15 pm returned just 15 minutes later after a problem developed in the engine following the bird-hit, the sources said.
The airport authorities made all arrangements for the emergency landing with fire tenders, medical van, doctors and police van after the pilot contacted the Air Traffic Controller, they said.
The Jetlite plane, flying from Port Blair to Bangalore via Kolkata, finally took off at 7:15 pm for Bangalore after repairs by the engineers.
(Published 17 November 2009, 19:12 IST)