A mooney MK20K pilot lost control of the aircraft on the landing roll and exited the runway; sufferi...

Narrative:

Upon landing I lost directional control and the aircraft veered to the left making a complete 90 degree turn ending up in the grass just off the runway. I applied full brakes and full right rudder to correct the action but the aircraft was [not] recoverable. The aircraft came to rest in the grass but didn't contact any airport signage or lighting.power remained on the single engine and I was able to power back onto the runway and safely taxi using asymmetrical braking. Once on the ramp; escorted by crash fire rescue equipment; further inspection showed no damage to fuselage; wings; gear; gear flaps; tires; etc other than the nose gear. There; the linkage connecting the rudder pedals to the nose wheel had become disconnected/broken and there was no connection whatsoever that remained. Further testing of rudder pedal action showed that it had no affect on the nose gear and that it was free from all control inputs.maintenance was asked to inspect and fix the nose gear. Both occupants of the aircraft confirmed that aircraft had proper action in the steering of the rudder pedals during taxi and departure from departure airport. In my opinion; nothing unusual was observed in flight to suggest that the landing would be abnormal. There was no way that the pilot could have anticipated this problem.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mooney MK20K pilot lost control of the aircraft on the landing roll and exited the runway; suffering no damage to the aircraft or property. Inspection revealed the nose gear steering linkage had failed.

Narrative: Upon landing I lost directional control and the aircraft veered to the left making a complete 90 degree turn ending up in the grass just off the runway. I applied full brakes and full right rudder to correct the action but the aircraft was [not] recoverable. The aircraft came to rest in the grass but didn't contact any airport signage or lighting.Power remained on the single engine and I was able to power back onto the runway and safely taxi using asymmetrical braking. Once on the ramp; escorted by CFR; further inspection showed no damage to fuselage; wings; gear; gear flaps; tires; etc other than the nose gear. There; the linkage connecting the rudder pedals to the nose wheel had become disconnected/broken and there was no connection whatsoever that remained. Further testing of rudder pedal action showed that it had no affect on the nose gear and that it was free from all control inputs.Maintenance was asked to inspect and fix the nose gear. Both occupants of the aircraft confirmed that aircraft had proper action in the steering of the rudder pedals during taxi and departure from departure airport. In my opinion; nothing unusual was observed in flight to suggest that the landing would be abnormal. There was no way that the pilot could have anticipated this problem.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	917691
Time
Date	201011
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	M-20 K (231) / Encore
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Nosewheel Steering
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 1200 Flight Crew Type 400
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Ground Excursion Runway

A mooney MK20K pilot lost control of the aircraft on the landing roll and exited the runway; suffering no damage to the aircraft or property. Inspection revealed the nose gear steering linkage had failed.