Louisiana suit claims woman 7th victim of Takata airbags

DETROIT— A Louisiana woman who may be the seventh person killed by a defective Takata airbag received a recall notice two days after the crash that caused her death, according to a lawsuit filed by her family.

Kylan Langlinais, 22, of Lafayette, La., died at a hospital on April 9, four days after the 2005 Honda Accord she was driving crashed into a utility pole, according to a lawsuit filed by her family Monday in federal court.

The crash occurred at about 4 a.m. on April 5. The driver’s airbag exploded with too much force, sending out shrapnel that severed Langlinais’ right carotid artery, the suit stated.

Kenneth St. Pe’, a lawyer representing the family, said Wednesday that he believes Langlinais would have walked away from the crash if not for the injury from the exploding airbag. Doctors did exploratory surgery and found no other injuries, he said.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is collecting information on the crash and is in contact with the lawyers and Honda, a spokesman said. No autopsy was performed and no official determination has been made on what caused Langlinais’ injuries.

In May, Takata bowed to government pressure and declared many of its products defective, agreeing to double the number of airbag inflators being recalled to 33.8 million, making it the largest auto recall in U.S. history.

Honda said in a statement that the crash may have caused Langlinais’ driver’s airbag inflator to rupture and said it is in contact with lawyers to get more information.