18-Wheeler Transporting Takata Air Bags Explodes near Eagle Pass
According to Fortune News, a tractor-trailer that was transporting Takata air bag inflators and propellants exploded after crashing in Texas on August 22, resulting one death and four injuries.
Details of the 18-Wheeler Explosion
The truck, operated by a subcontractor, was en route to a Takata plant in Eagle Pass, Texas, on when the accident happened. The crash resulted in an explosion and destroyed one home. The blast killed one woman and injured four others.
Takata air bags have been the subject of federal scrutiny and are currently at the center of a massive recall affecting millions of vehicles.
While a Takata spokesman was unable to confirm the date and location of the accident, he did confirm that the truck was carrying air bag inflators and propellants containing ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is the volatile chemical compound linked to the exploding air bags.
Takata has a warehouse in Eagle Pass which stocks inflators manufactured across the U.S.-Mexico border at its plant in Monclova, which was confirmed as one of the sources of the defective air bags.
Prolonged exposure of the inflators to hot and humid conditions can cause air bags to deploy with excessive force and rupture, spraying shrapnel into passenger compartments. Takata is facing billions of dollars worth of liabilities over the sometimes deadly defects in its inflators.
Takata Airbag Injury Statistics
According to Fortune News, the Takata airbags have been linked to the deaths of at least 14 people and have become the global auto industry’s biggest ever recall.
More than 100 million vehicles worldwide have been slated for recall to replace Takata inflators, which are also linked to more than 150 injuries. These injuries are mostly in the United States and involve Honda Motor Co Ltd Cars.
