B737-700
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 227
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; General Maintenance Action
Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
After pushback; we waved off Ground Crew. We saw the communication bag; tow bar; tug; two personnel and nose gear pin streamer. After completing flow items and the Before Taxi Checklist; we called for taxi. I then realized we had no nose wheel steering control. The tiller would move to the right but there was no left authority control input.We notified ATC and held our position. We contacted Ops and requested that Maintenance assist us. Maintenance personnel arrived and using their headset informed us the nose gear steering pin was still installed. After removal; we continued taxi for departure with no further incident. It turned out that the Ground personnel had removed the pin and streamer; however; the head of the pin broke off during removal. This left the shaft of the pin still inserted in the receptacle. The Ground personnel held in his hand just the 'T' of the pin with the streamer attached. That is what we saw and what the Ground personnel assumed to be a proper removal of the pin. The pin had failed/broken at the head of the pin. We learned of this failure by contacting Maintenance via radio after our departure. No further issues occurred and we continued to destination.
B737 Captain discovered that the nosewheel steering was inoperative after pushback and called Maintenance. Maintenance found that the nosewheel steering lockout pin had sheared off at the head. The push back crew removed only the head and the streamer; but not the shaft.