No one was killed or seriously injured when the Lion Air plane carrying 110 passengers collided with one of three cows wandering on the runway as it arrived in Gorontalo, on Sulawesi island.

The cow, however, was crushed to death under one of the Boeing 737-900’s middle wheels, head of Jalaluddin Airport Agus Pramuka said.

The pilot, Iwan Permadi, told state-run Antara news he thought there were dogs in front of the plane as it came into land, “but it turned out there were three cows in the middle of the runway”.

The plane, which suffered minor damage, had skidded into the field next to the runway, with its tail still on the runway.

All the passengers managed to disembark safely, transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.

The plane had started its journey in Jakarta.