Gas used in manufacturing can deteriorate the airbag materials and cause flying shrapnelDETROIT — A type of Takata air bag inflator once thought to be safe has now come under scrutiny after a crash and explosion in Maryland injured the driver of an older Honda minivan.
Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion and inflate air bags in a collision. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed to high temperatures and humidity and blow apart a metal canister, spewing out shrapnel. At least 23 people have been killed by the company's inflators and hundreds more injured.
But Honda and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that a crash on Jan. 19, 2018 involving a 2004 Honda Odyssey initiated an investigation and Tuesday's recall when investigators discovered that the driver's air bag inflator ruptured. The probe determined that inflators made at Takata's Monclova, Mexico, factory were faulty due to a manufacturing defect, Honda said.
NHTSA, the government's highway safety regulator, issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging the recall and saying that not all vehicles that received replacement air bag inflators are affected by the recall. The agency urged owners to check for open recalls by keying in their 17-digit vehicle identification number on the NHTSA website .
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Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »