Honda recalled cars with Takata airbags in 2002

Honda recalled a handful of vehicles in 2002 to address faulty welds in Takata airbag inflators–the same component that is now known to fail due to contamination from humidity.
According to documents retrieved from safety databases by Reuters, Honda recalled just shy of 2,700 Honda Accord and Acura TL models after a passenger airbag deployed “improperly.”

This revelation comes shortly after Honda North America executive Vice President Rick Schostek appeared before a Senate hearing and testified that Honda was not made aware of any ruptures prior to an incident reported in 2004.

Takata still maintains that the defect was not known to the supplier until 2007 and that results of the tests conducted on the inflators were not covered up, but Honda has gone on record stating that known incidents were “under-reported.”

The Takata airbag campaign has expanded to cover an estimated 11 million vehicles from nearly a dozen manufacturers, and the supplier is scrambling to produce replacement units as each OEM conducts separate recalls to replace defective units in vehicles dating back as far as 2001.