US senators urge NHTSA to accelerate Takata airbag recall

The Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation published a report Tuesday that condemned the company for manipulating safety testing data and for its “broken safety culture”.

He said the ITC investigated the four designs of Takata inflators used in some 19 million USA vehicles that Takata admitted were defective past year, but the group did not test the type of inflators covered by the supplier recall expansions that began last month and boosted the total number of the affected cars to 29 million. And their design allows moisture from high humidity to build up inside the inflator assembly, he said.

On Tuesday, the NHTSA stated that a consent order was issued in November 2015 to the company under which “all Takata ammonium nitrate-based inflators must eventually be recalled unless Takata can establish their long-term safety”.

The next phase will focus on the performance of all inflators that are being used as replacement parts for the current recalls and how they are expected to perform.

“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. All of those air bags use specially formulated ammonium nitrate without a drying agent.

The cause of the problem has eluded investigators for more than a decade, and Takata of Japan has given multiple explanations including quality control problems at manufacturing facilities and exposure of the air bags to high humidity.

“This recall is not going away any time soon”, she said, “and hopefully the death toll won’t rise while the investigation continues”.

In a separate, earlier report, NHTSA vehicle integrity chief Scott Yon said that “long term” means more than five years.

“Safety recalls shouldn’t be eventual, they should be immediate”, they said. Bill NelsonBill NelsonOvernight Tech: Deal reached on net neutrality transparency rules Dem senators push Takata to expand air bag recall Dems accuse Takata of “widespread manipulation” of airbag tests MORE (D-Fla.) said in a statement. Globally, about 50 million inflators are subject to recall.

Representatives from Takata Corp released a statement saying that they are “cooperating fully with regulators and our automotive customers and continues to take aggressive action to advance vehicle safety”.