Takata Truck Blast Revives Concerns Over Airbag Propellant
- Instability of ammonium nitrate highlighted in explosion
- Takata has said it followed procedures that exceed U.S. rules
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Critics of the embattled airbag manufacturer Takata Corp. said last week’s deadly explosion of a truck carrying parts to its Mexican factory underscores questions about the safety of the chemical compound at the center of the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.
Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the National Transportation Safety Board should look into the Aug. 22 explosion, which killed one and injured four others on U.S. Highway 277 between Del Rio, Texas and Eagle Pass, Texas. The truck was carrying 14,000 cylinders of ammonium nitrate, the propellant linked to deadly airbag failures.