Some, such as Florida Senator Bill Nelson, even believe that there should be a blanket recall of any Takata airbag that uses ammonium nitrate to expand in a crash.
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When exposed to moisture, ammonium nitrate can cause the inflator to rupture with deadly force, spraying shrapnel into vehicle occupants.
“Orbital ATK’s root cause analysis is backed by 20,000 hours of testing and analysis by experienced engineers, scientists and technicians”, said Bob Wardle, senior director of technology programs in Orbital ATK’s propulsion Systems Division.
DETROIT/WASHINGTON U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal on Wednesday renewed their call for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to accelerate the recall of potentially defective Takata Corp air bags. The exploding air bags have been linked to at least 10 deaths, most involving vehicles made by Honda, Takata’s biggest customer and a minority shareholder. Kelly, who commented on the findings in the statement, was hired by the automaker group known as the Independent Testing Coalition to run the tests previous year. And their design allows moisture from high humidity to build up inside the inflator assembly, he said. The Independent Testing Coalition, which is comprised of representatives from Toyota, Honda, Fiat Chrysler, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru, announced this week that ammonium nitrate propellant is the main culprit of Takata’s faulty airbags.
In light of the test results, NHTSA’s November consent order with Takata, in which it was fined $70 million over several years, may need to be amended.
At least 10 deaths, including nine in the United States, have been tied to the fault, with some 28 million Takata airbags having been recalled in the U.S. alone. (Which could suggest that five million of the devices are being recalled unnecessarily.) However, as we reported earlier this week, up to 90 million additional Takata airbags employ the compound and could be recalled in the coming years. The company said it is cooperating with the coalition and the USA government.
“Takata is deeply sorry for all fatalities and injuries that have occurred in any case where a Takata airbag inflator has failed to deploy as intended”, the company said again on Tuesday.
“Safety recalls shouldn’t be eventual, they should be immediate”, they said.
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Analysts say there are 50 million or more Takata inflators in US cars and trucks that haven’t been recalled yet. Takata must prove to USA regulators that the inflators are safe or all of them will be recalled starting in 2018.
