There’s another big airbag scandal going on, and this time, it has nothing to do with Takata. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has opened an investigation into illegally imported aftermarket Chinese airbags that have been involved in eight incidents that have resulted in serious injury or death in the United States since 2017. That’s one more than the feds thought last month. According to the investigation documents, six drivers sustained fatal injuries, and two sustained severe injuries, after all eight drivers had Jilin Province Deiannua Automobile Safety System Company (DTN) airbag inflators installed in their vehicles after earlier crashes. During the NHTSA’s initial analysis of the abovementioned incidents, it discovered that these inflators were likely imported into the United States illegally.
Illegal Inflator Investigation Goes Back Over A Decade
The NHTSA says that its Office of Defects Investigation first became aware of substandard or counterfeit airbag modules being sold online in 2012, and its testing revealed that these airbag inflators were not manufactured by DTN. “This testing revealed that the inflators consistently malfunctioned during deployments, such as by failing to deploy the airbag or expelling metal shrapnel due to a rupture,” says the NHTSA. This is similar to the issue that crippled Takata and ARC Automotive, but until eight years ago, the ODI was not aware of any field incidents of abnormal deployment involving an imported subtandard or counterfeit airbag module. That changed in September 2017, when a 2009 Honda Civic airbag ruptured during deployment, killing the driver. An investigation revealed that the airbag was not original equipment and was likely an import, but again, it was not made by DTN.
Related: How to Spot Deadly Fake Airbags Before They Turn Into Grenades
Then, in June 2023, the ODI was made aware of a ruptured driver-side airbag in a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu that caused fatal injuries to the driver, and this was revealed to be manufactured by DTN. Over the following year, the ODI learned of four more ruptures involving substandard airbag modules in Chevy Malibus, and in March of this year, the NHTSA found yet another substandard aftermarket inflator in a 2017 Hyundai Sonata after the driver was killed. A similar report was received in August after a fatal airbag rupture in a 2019 Sonata, and most recently, a 2020 Chevy Malibu suffered another fatal airbag rupture. All three were manufactured by DTN, and there is nothing to suggest that the fault lies with the vehicles, only the aftermarket airbag systems.
Still Plenty Of Unknowns In This Tragic Scenario
Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
These airbag inflators are aftermarket parts installed after earlier crashes, and because DTN’s own website states that the company does “not do business with the United States and any of our products are prohibited from being sold in the United States,” the NHTSA believes that these parts would have been illegally imported, so it’s nearly impossible to ascertain how many other vehicles may be at risk. That said, the NHTSA estimates that the affected population is lower than 10,000. If you suspect that your vehicle has been in a crash, we advise determining how the airbag systems were repaired, and if there is no paper trail to confirm OEM components, it may be prudent to avoid driving the car until a factory airbag system is installed.
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