From the MSNBC cable channel:
The National Transportation Safety Board Web site reported that a similar incident with an A320 occurred on an America West flight in February 1999 in Columbus, Ohio. The agency found the cause was a failure of the external o-rings in the nose landing gear steering module. The plane landed safely.
They are interviewing a pilot from America West who had a similar situation on a B-727 in 1988. However, they apparently landed without realizing the nose gear was askew. He recalled a lot of vibration, so much that instruments were not readable, a lot of dust in the cockpit, and a big black stripe down the center of the runway.