Mark Lillie, who left Takata in 1999, says the company disregarded his warnings against using the chemical compound ammonium nitrate to inflate its airbags. He's even willing to testify about it before the U.S. Congress.
As you know, faulty Takata airbags (which can deploy with too much force) have caused many driver and passenger deaths in recent years. Over 24 million vehicles equipped with these airbags have been recalled worldwide.
“I knew that ultimately there were going to be catastrophic failures,” Lillie told Bloomberg in a phone interview. “I didn’t want my name associated with it.”
U.S. legislators have criticized Takata because it still uses ammonium nitrate in replacement airbags for recalled vehicles. A Bloomberg News review of the company’s patents in December showed Takata researchers have been aware of the instability of ammonium nitrate since at least 1985.
Source: Automotive News