Objective: This article reports two accidents caused by defective Takata airbags ruptured, which led to the deaths of the drivers. This is the first public report on the deaths caused by Takata airbags in China.
Methods: Determine the relationship between the driver death and airbag rupture through autopsy indings and vehicle inspection.
Results: Due to defects in the design of Takata's inflator, moist air was permitted to slowly enter the inflator, resulting the PSAN slowly degraded physically. The damaged propellant burned more rapidly than intended and overpressurized the inflator's steel housing, causing fragmentation and flying debris at high speed, killing or injuring vehicle occupants.
Conclusions: To date, there are still tens of millions of defective Takata airbags that have not been recalled for repair, posing safety risks. This article suggests taking preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of similar accidents.
Keywords: Inflator; PSAN; Takata; propellant; recall.