Ex-Takata Engineer Offers to Testify on Inflator Dangers

A former Takata Corp. engineer is offering to testify before Congress about his warnings to the company more than a decade ago that their airbag inflators could suffer "catastrophic failures."

About 24 million such inflators have been recalled worldwide because some explode when triggered.

Engineer Mark Lillie left Takata in 1999, just before the company switched its inflator propellant from tetrazole to ammonium nitrate. Lillie tells several news organizations he strongly advised against the change because the latter material is less stable and more sensitive to moisture. He suggests Takata overruled his concerns because ammonium nitrate was significantly cheaper.

Recent Takata inflator recalls have focused on devices located in high-humidity regions. The company suspects that deficiencies in its own manufacturing processes may have exposed the propellant to moisture that altered the material's combustion characteristics.