NTSB Releases Updates on Tesla Autopilot Crashes

The NTSB has new data from drivers' phones that were possibly used before the crashes.

Feb. 12, 2020

Feb. 12, 2020—Federal investigators released documents on two Tesla crashes involving Autopilot, according to a report by USA Today.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the March 23, 2018 crash that killed Walter Huang near Mountain View, Calif. It’s also probing a crash in Delray Beach, Fla., that happened about a year later and killed driver Jeremy Banner.

The full NTSB board is scheduled to hold a hearing on the Mountain View crash on Feb. 25., and determine a cause.

In addition to documents released, records from an iPhone recovered from the crash site showed that Huang may have been using it before the accident. Records obtained from AT&T showed that data had been used while the vehicle was in motion, but the source of the transmissions couldn’t be determined, the NTSB wrote. One transmission was less than a minute before the crash.

In the Florida crash, Banner turned on the Autopilot function of his Model 3 sedan 10 seconds before the crash, then took his hands off the steering wheel, NTSB documents said. The car then drove underneath a tractor-trailer that was crossing in front of it, sheering off the car’s roof and killing Banner, according to USA Today.