The passengers of a Mumbai-bound Jet Airways flight had a narrow escape on Wednesday when a bird hit the aircraft.

"The incident occurred in the morning when Indore-Mumbai Flight 382 was gearing up for take-off," Jet Airways Manager Sandeep Pandit said.

The pilot applied the emergency brakes and the plane stopped on the runway itself, he said, adding that after checking the aircraft officials decided to cancel the flight and requisition technical staff from Mumbai for repairs.

Some passengers who had to reach Mumbai urgently took an alternate flight, while the remaining were waiting at the airport for the cancelled flight to resume, Pandit added.