2006 Nissan Xterra steering problems

This is in regards to a 2006 nissan xterra. The vehicle had a catastrophic failure of the power steering system which resulted in the truck veering off a bridge. There were no obvious issued with the vehicle leading up to the event. The truck had just received its 30,000 mile service and was in great mechanical condition. After leaving our driveway and less than a mile from our house, my wife came to a stop at a small bridge then made a left turn across the bride.

The problem with my vehicle is as follows. The upper steering column's bearing has deteriorated so bad the amount of play in the steering is about an inch in every direction. The cost of this repair as per the my local nissan dealer is roughly $1000.00. I don't see how this can be considered normal wear in tear in a vehicles life span. I find this to be a serious and very dangerous flaw in the design of your vehicle and should be rectified by some sort of recall.