A consumer alert to pass along from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as the federal agency reports an additional fatality from a ruptured defective Chinese replacement air bag inflator. This marks the 11th person killed in the U.S. by these banned inflators, and the first from one installed in a Chevrolet Equinox.
Federal safety regulators say all previous 10 deaths and three severe injuries happened in Chevrolet Malibu and Hyundai Sonata vehicles. Every incident occurred in vehicles that had their original frontal driver air bag inflators replaced with a defective and likely illegally imported inflator marked with the identifier DTN60DB. NTHSA says this latest fatality occurred in a 2018 Equinox in Dallas on Aug. 27, and as in the previous incidents, was an otherwise survivable crash.
NHTSA is urging owners of used vehicles that have previously been in a crash with an air bag deployment since 2020 to have their vehicle inspected. The agency banned the importation and sale of these DTN60DB inflators earlier this year, the first ban NHTSA issued in more than two decades.
NHTSA’s final decision concluded that these inflators pose a risk of serious injury or death to drivers and passengers. Instead of inflating the air bag in a crash to protect the driver, safety investigators say these inflators explode, sending large metal fragments into drivers’ chests, necks, eyes and faces.
Photos of a DTN60DB inflator and inflator caps are available here, and more information is available in NHTSA’s investigation file online - NHTSA Action Number: EA25005.
Information for Used Vehicle Owners:
NHTSA is urging used vehicle owners and buyers to learn their vehicle’s history and ensure the vehicle has genuine air bag inflators:
-
Owners or buyers not familiar with their vehicle’s history should obtain a history report. A vehicle should be inspected if it was in a previous crash with an air bag deployment since 2020 and was not repaired by the manufacturer’s dealership.
-
If a vehicle has been in a previous crash where the air bag deployed, NHTSA says it should be inspected by a reputable mechanic immediately to ensure the air bag is a legitimate replacement equivalent to the original.
-
Owners should not attempt to inspect their air bag themselves.
If a vehicle is found to have a DTN60DB inflator, it should not be driven until the inflator is replaced with genuine parts.
If an owner has a vehicle with one of these suspect inflators, they should contact their local Homeland Security Investigations office or FBI field office to report it or submit an online complaint to the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.
Owners should also contact NHTSA online or by calling the agency’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.
