Rocket firm to probe air bag problems

Auto industry hires company to look into excessive force when device deploys

The auto industry, fed up with slow progress toward finding out why some air bags explode with too much force, has hired a Virginia rocket science company to investigate the matter.

Ten automakers whose vehicles have been recalled because of problems with Takata Corp air bags said Thursday they have jointly hired Orbital ATK to figure out the problem.

The suburban Washington, DC, company makes rocket propulsion systems, small arms ammunition, warhead fuses and missile controls.

The companies also named David Kelly, a former acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as project manager for the investigation.

Air bags inflators made by Takata of Japan can explode with too much force, sending shrapnel into car and truck cabins. At least six people have been killed and 64 injured due to the problems, which surfaced a decade ago. So far, about 17 million cars and trucks have been recalled in the US and 22 million worldwide to replace the inflators, but Takata has been unable to pinpoint the cause. The company has known about the problems since at least 2004.

“The Orbital team has a tremendous amount of experience in being able to test that and being able to look at burn rates on a large scale,” he said.

Long-term stability of air bag propellant is important because cars are staying on the road for 10 or 15 years, much longer than in the past, Kelly said.

He wouldn’t estimate how long it might take to find a cause. “We don’t want to prejudge that process. It is much more important for us to get the answer right than to get the answer back,” Kelly said.

Orbital ATK will share data with Takata and government safety investigators.