20230704011909A

Pilot statement: after I was cleared for the approach, I lowered the landing gear and the first setting for the flaps prior to entering left base and I put the landing light on when cleared to land by the tower. I lowered landing flaps midway on base and was fully configured before turning final. I had both the glideslope and PAPI guiding me to touch down. I crossed the threshold somewhere between 80-85 knots very stabilized and touched down normally. When I lowered the nose, the aircraft pulled to the left. I lightly pressed the right rudder to straighten it out, and the aircraft suddenly veered sharply to the right. As I continued the rollout the rudder pedals felt very unusual and the rudder was not responding to my inputs. Just as the aircraft was approaching the runway right edge, the rudder became more responsive, but not in time to prevent the right main from dropping off the runway. Trying to get the right wheel back on the runway, the left rudder took effect, and the wheel returned to the runway surface. However, I was unable to get the aircraft stabilized on the centerline, and it crossed to the left side. The left wheel dropped off the edge, and the aircraft did a slow 180, settling in the mud. I shut everything down and had to assist with opening the lower door as it was stuck in the mud. Everyone exited safely and there were no injuries.

Analysis: aircraft was inspected post-accident and no mechanical issues were noted at the time of the investigation that may have cause the pilot to lose directional control. Information gathered from the navigation log indicated a normal approach to landing with airspeed within AFM specifications. Pilot had recently purchased the aircraft and had approximately 50 hours in make and model with about 25 hours PIC time.

Conclusion: at this time, there are no facts indicating the cause for the aircraft to ground loop during landing rollout.

This report will be amended if more information becomes available.