A B717 AT FL260 EXPERIENCED UNCTLABLE FLT AND LANDED AT A NEARBY ARPT.

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PRIOR TO DEP FROM ZZZ1 FOR ZZZ2; I WAS BRIEFED BY DISPATCHER THAT THE SIGNIFICANT WX WAS MOVING TO THE E; OFF THE ARPT. I VIEWED THE WX RADAR IN THE ACR OPS AREA AND SAW THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WX E AS WELL. THIS CONCURRED WITH INFO WE RECEIVED FROM LCL CTLRS. WE TAXIED FOR TKOF ON RWY 1L; ADVISING THE CTLR THAT WE INTENDED TO WAIT FOR THE WX TO MOVE FURTHER E. AN ACR FLT; IN TKOF POS; ELECTED NOT TO DEPART DUE TO WX ON THE DEP CORRIDOR. AFTER THE CTLR; THE ACR CREW; AND WE DETERMINED THAT THE WX HAD MOVED; THE ACR FLT DEPARTED. WE WAITED FOR A RIDE RPT AND WERE ADVISED THAT IT WAS 'SMOOTH.' WE THEN DEPARTED JUST BEFORE XA00. THE RIDE WAS ESSENTIALLY SMOOTH ALTHOUGH WE STILL HAD THE FLT ATTENDANTS SEATED AND THE SEATBELT SIGN WAS ON. FLASHES OF LIGHTNING WERE EVIDENT; HOWEVER; WE WERE IN IMC AND COULD NOT DISCERN SPECIFIC LOCATION. AT THAT POINT; I OBSERVED A MASTER CAUTION LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE GLARE SHIELD AND AN ILLUMINATED 'CONFIGN' KEY ON THE CTR CONSOLE. I DETERMINED THAT A 'RUDDER LIMIT FAIL' ALERT WAS ON THE EAD. AS I WAS ABOUT TO CALL FOR THE QRH; THE ACFT APPEARED TO PITCH ABRUPTLY DOWNWARD AND THE AUTOPLT DISCONNECTED. I TOOK THE YOKE AS DID THE FO. WE NOTED THAT AIRSPD WAS BUILDING RAPIDLY AND THAT WE WERE LOSING ALT. THEREAFTER; THE ACFT CLBED AND DSNDED IN VERY LARGE VARIATIONS. THE PFD SEEMED TO RAPIDLY FLICKER ON AND OFF AND AIRSPD WENT FROM THE 'LOW FOOT' RANGE TO WELL UP IN THE 'RED ZIPPER.' I HEARD THE OVERSPD WARNING ON AT LEAST 2 OR 3 OCCASIONS. THE MAX SPD I NOTED WAS APPROX 400 KIAS. WE WERE PULLING SIGNIFICANT G FORCES THROUGHOUT. WE NOTED VERY SIGNIFICANT ALT VARIATIONS. I BELIEVE THAT A MAYDAY WAS BROADCAST AND I DID ADVISE THE CTLR THAT WE WERE EXPERIENCING LOSS OF CTL. I DID NOT FEEL THAT WE WERE GETTING NORMAL ELEVATOR RESPONSE AND VERBALIZED THIS TO THE ARTCC CTLR. I RECALL THAT WE DECLARED AN EMER AT THAT TIME. AT THAT TIME; FO WAS ON THE CTLS AS WELL. I NOTED NUMEROUS LIGHTS ON THE EAD -- THE ONES I PARTICULARLY NOTED WERE 'RUDDER LIMITER FAILURE' AND EITHER 'CTL DISCONNECT' OR 'ELEVATOR DISCONNECT' AS WELL AS 'SELECT FADEC ALTERNATE.' WE THEN DECIDED TO LAND ASAP AT THE NEAREST SAFE ARPT. THE FO HAD SOLELY TAKEN OVER THE FLYING DUTIES WHEN I BEGAN WORKING WITH ATC TO FIND AN ARPT. I DID; HOWEVER; MANAGE THE PWR TO MAINTAIN AIRSPD AND WAS POSITIONED ON THE CTLS IN THE EVENT A PROB DEVELOPED. MANY OF THE EAD ALERTS I HAD OBSERVED EARLIER IN THE INCIDENT HAD APPARENTLY GONE OFF. CTL WAS NORMAL AS SLATS; FLAPS; AND GEAR WERE EXTENDED. LNDG WT WAS 100000 LBS. A DISCUSSION WITH THE CREW MEMBERS REVEALED THAT THE FLT ATTENDANTS HAD NOTED A 'BURNING' ODOR SHORTLY AFTER THE INCIDENT BEGAN. I BELIEVE THAT THEY INDICATED THAT PAX SEATED IN THE FORWARD PART OF THE CABIN REMARKED ACCORDINGLY. I DID NOT NOTICE ANY SUCH ODOR. I EXPERIENCED A LIGHTNING STRIKE IN A B717 WITHIN THE LAST 2 MONTHS AND DID NOT NOTE ANY SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS DURING THIS INCIDENT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 658046: AFTER DEP; WE REQUESTED A FURTHER L NORTHERLY HDG TO REMAIN WELL CLR OF ALL LCL TSTM CELLS. OUR INITIAL ALT WAS 6000 FT. AFTER DEP; WE WERE GIVEN A HIGHER ALT I BELIEVE TO BE 15000 FT. I QUERIED THE CTLR FOR A HIGHER ALT TO TRY TO GET ABOVE THE CLOUD LAYER. WE WERE GIVEN FL230. WHILE CLBING TO FL230; I FURTHER QUERIED THE CTLR FOR A HIGHER ALT. WE THEN WERE CLRED TO FL270. WHILE CLBING TO FL270 UNDER IFR CONDITIONS; WE HAD A CONFIGN INDICATION THE ACFT MADE A SUDDEN STEEP DIVE TO THE L AT AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF SPD. WE DECLARED 'MAYDAY.' WE ASSESSED THAT WE DID NOT HAVE AUTOPLT NOR AUTOTHROTTLES. WE MADE AN IMMEDIATE ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THE ACFT'S UNUSUAL ATTITUDE. DURING OUR ATTEMPT TO GET CTL OF THE ACFT; I SMELT WHAT SEEMED TO BE SMOKE FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. WHILE MAKING MANUAL CTL WHEEL AND THROTTLES INPUTS WE WERE ABLE TO BRING THE ACFT UNDER CTL.