A flight from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi returned minutes after take-off and made an emergency landing after the aircraft was caught in a hailstorm and suffered damage on Wednesday, an official said.

The 169 passengers and crew on board are safe.

The New Delhi-bound Vistara flight landed back at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here barely 10 minutes after taking off, the officials said.

According to preliminary information, the aircraft's windshield developed a crack due to the hailstorm that lashed several parts of Odisha this afternoon.

"A windshield has been damaged, while no harm was caused to the passengers," BPIA Director Prasanna Pradhan said.

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