20110829020289I

On 8/29/2011 at 12:37PM an Embraer 145 expressjet N27152, touched down on runway 10 at the Moline airport (mli). As the nose gear touched down the aircraft went into a gradual,uncommanded turn to the left which then increased rapidly. The aircraft departed the runway to the left into the grass before the echo taxiway. The aircraft traveled approximately 1058 feet and then came in contact with the echo taxiway marker,destroying it, the aircraft also hit a taxiway marker light before crossing the echo taxiway, sliding another 395 feet before coming to rest in a grassy field 98 feet from runway 10. The total distance was 1453 feet. There were two crew members, one flight attendant, and fifty passengers on board. They exited the aircraft through the main entry door, being assisted by the Moline fire deapartment and airport authorities. There were no injuries. The aircraft was then towed to an aircraft hangar owned by the city of Moline. The aircraft received substantial damage to the nose gear. Both gear doors had large gashes, due to the doors having been forced aft by the impact. This resulted in the hinges being bent. The left hand nose gear door actuator rod end was broken .both nose gear tires had deep cuts in several places. The nose gear landing lights were damaged, and had conduit damage. The aircraft, main landing gear doors had numerous dents, holes and scratches. The lower fuselage also had substantial damage with numerous scratches, holes and dents in the fiberglass attach fairings. There was a 18 inch gash in the forward left hand wing to fuselage fillet fairing honeycomb. The wing leading edges had dents and scratches. Upon the arrival of the FAA inspector in charge,(iic)found the aircraft at the hangar and was being inspected by the expressjet mechanics and a company inspector. privacy data omitted, The director of safety for the airline was also present to help coordinate the recovery and repair. The mechanics at the hangar were performing inital inspections and conducting a central maintenance computer download. They were also waiting for additional maintenance personnel, manuals and tooling which were coming from clevland Ohio. Upon arrival of the personnel from clevland, a conference call was conducted with the company headquarters and the mechanics then started the repairs and testing of the aircraft systems. It had been requested by the expressjet principal manitenance inspector,(pmi),privacy data omitted, that the iic and the accomanying inspector from the ord-fsdo pay particular attention to the nose steering test. The nose steering test was accomplished in accordance with expressjet aircraft maintenance manual 32-50-00-5, nose wheel steering system adjustment and test. This test produced no abnormal findings in regard to the operation of the nose steering system. Upon further investigation it was found that the nose gear had received substantial damage with a bent attach trunnion and numerous cracks of the main nose gear bearing. It was determined that the nose gear would have to be removed and replaced. According to the director of safety for expressjet, privacy data omitted, all the parts that were removed from the aircraft were placed in quarintine and sent to the expressjet main maintenance facility for further evaluation. On 9-6-2011 the inspector in charge contacted the principal maintenance inspector and was informed that the nose gear had been removed and replaced in Moline and the aircraft was then ferried to their maintenance facility in knoxville, TN. In block 21A, the block system failure was checked and block 21B loss of control was checked. The cause has not been determined as of yet. The chdo will make the final determination of the cause of the incident.