Indian Airlines flight IC540 landed at runway 14 of Nagpur Airport at 22:40 hours local time. Just after touchdown, the captain saw three cows on the runway about 1000-1500 ft ahead. At this stage, the pilot was not able to avoid the animals and hit all tree cows. The aircraft was fully controllable and was decelerating satisfactorily even after hitting the cows, but subsequently lost braking and nose-wheel steering control after turning into the apron. The nose gear right-hand wheel hit a small brick wall at the end of the apron and the aircraft finally came to rest with the nose wheel going 3 feet out of the apron and getting bogged down. The aircraft sustained substantial damage but all members of crew and passengers escaped unhurt. There was no fire. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The cause of the accident has been attributed to the presence of three cows in front of the aircraft just after its touchdown. Ineffective inspection of operational area before flight was contributory factor.”