Date: 201403
Local time of day: 0001-0600
Location: GRI.Airport, NE
Flight conditions: VMC
Weather elements / visibility: 10
Light: Night
Aircraft: Cessna 400
Operator: Personal
Operating under: Part 91
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Personal
Flight phase: Landing
ATC / advisory: Tower GRI
Reporter organization: Personal
Reporter function: Pilot Flying; Single Pilot
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Human factors: Troubleshooting; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Confusion; Communication Breakdown
Anomaly: Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: I filed an instrument flight plan from GRI to AGC. The flight was uneventful until the ending. I misjudged the height of the runway and had a harder than normal landing. After rolling out for a few seconds while commenting to my passenger (a pilot flight instructor/friend who had accompanied me on the trip) about the rough landing; I suddenly was unable to control the plane as it began chattering or 'mini-jumping' on the runway. I yelled at my friend that I thought I had experienced a flat tire due to the very rough handling and almost jumping of the plane. The plane then suddenly veered almost 180 degrees to the left and I found myself at a complete stop; almost facing the direction from which I had come. I then heard another plane being cleared to land behind me; and I actually saw the lights of the approaching plane (on final) heading towards the runway I was still on! I tried contacting the Tower but they did not answer or did not hear me; so I increased the throttle to try to move the plane which then moved smoothly and without ANY shimmy or roughness at all; and immediately headed for the closest exit which was a short back taxi but the closest route off the active runway considering where I was facing and that I thought that the plane would not be easily and/or safely movable after the trouble I had experienced. We succeeded in getting off the active runway and contacted the Tower on the second radio. After getting the plane to the hangar by slow taxi with NO difficulty; we shut it down and discussed the events with the Tower again. We also examined the plane and found a) NO flat tires; but b) a cylindrical bronze colored collar was seen around the nose wheel strut that was greasy; easily moved up and down the strut by hand; and contained threads within it that apparently were supposed to be attached/threaded to a received that was located higher in the nose wheel assembly and to which it was (obviously) no longer attached. Further; I gently pushed the nose of the aircraft (while standing at its left side) to the right and it appeared as if the entire nose wheel assembly was loose and wobbled to the right as the plane did slightly displace to the right. I have; of course; contacted our A&P to examine the plane in general and the nose wheel assembly in particular to determine what went wrong and how to repair whatever might have occurred.I do not know if this report should or should not be filed; but as it involved back taxiing on an active runway without permission but doing so because of the sudden incapacitation and loss of control of the aircraft following a rough landing and seeing a plane on approach and being unable to raise the Tower and wanting to ensure that I got off the active as soon as possible yet not being able to declare this as an emergent situation; I thought that if it might help clarify how to proceed for others in the future; it would be worth filing.




Synopsis: After a firm landing during which the nose gear was damaged the pilot of a Cessna Columbia 400 hastened to exit the runway due to following traffic cleared to land behind him.  Slow speed taxi was unimpeded.