Vijayawada (PTI): Passengers of a Hyderabad-bound flight, including senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, had a narrow escape here on Friday as the plane had to abort take off after it suffered a bird hit.

The Vijayawada-Hyderabad Kingfisher flight, with 55 passengers on board, was just about to take-off from Gannavaram airport, about 20 km. from here, when the bird was sucked into the engine, police sources said.

The pilot applied brakes, aborted take off and taxied it back to the parking bay, they said. The incident occurred around 12.30 pm, police said.

After repairs were carried out, the plane resumed its journey at around 15.30 hours with 38 passengers on board.

"The plane had covered three fourth of the runway when the pilot applied brakes. For a moment, I thought there was some hydraulic system failure. The plane was brought back. An announcement was made and we were asked to disembark," Naidu told PTI.

"Had the plane taken off, it would have been a big tragedy. But the pilot was alert and acted with presence of mind," he said.

Naidu, who has had similar experience a couple of times, proceeded to his native Nellore district by train.

Other VIP passengers on board the flight included two Congress MLAs-D Venkateswara Rao, a son-in-law of late N T Rama Rao, and G Srinivasa Rao.