The NTSB says it removed Tesla from crash investigation, while Tesla says it withdrew

FAN Editor

The National Transportation Safety Board has “revoked” Tesla’s status as a party to its investigation of a fatal crash that took place in Mountain View, Calif. in March.

However, Tesla maintains it withdrew from the probe.

An Apple engineer named Walter Huang was killed in the March 23rd crash, driving a 2017 Tesla Model X with Tesla‘s Autopilot systems engaged.

Huang’s family hired a law firm, Minami Tamaki, to explore their legal options, they announced this week. The firm has publicly stated that it believes the Autopilot feature in the Model X potentially caused Huang’s death.

The NTSB said in a statement on Thursday:

“The NTSB took this action because Tesla violated the party agreement by releasing investigative information before it was vetted and confirmed by the NTSB. Such releases of incomplete information often lead to speculation and incorrect assumptions about the probable cause of a crash, which does a disservice to the investigative process and the traveling public.”

In the release, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt wrote, “We decided to revoke Tesla’s party status and informed Mr. Musk in a phone call last evening and via letter today. While we understand the demand for information that parties face during an NTSB investigation, uncoordinated releases of incomplete information do not further transportation safety or serve the public interest.”

The NTSB previously expressed concern about a March 30 blog post from Tesla that suggested Huang was at fault, and included the following:

“In the moments before the collision, which occurred at 9:27 a.m. on Friday, March 23rd, Autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum. The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision.”

Tesla told CNBC that it withdrew from the NTSB investigation, and sent this statement, which was issued Wednesday:

“Today, Tesla withdrew from the party agreement with the NTSB because it requires that we not release information about Autopilot to the public, a requirement which we believe fundamentally affects public safety negatively. We believe in transparency, so an agreement that prevents public release of information for over a year is unacceptable. Even though we won’t be a formal party, we will continue to provide technical assistance to the NTSB.”

The NTSB said that revoking party status in investigations is rare, but not unprecedented.

— Robert Ferris contributed to this report.

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