Driver Was Behind The Wheel In Spring Tesla Crash: NTSB

SPRING, TX — Salvaged data from the event data recorder indicates the driver was behind the wheel with his seat belt engaged when his Tesla Model S crashed April 17 in Spring, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an update to its investigation Thursday.

The NTSB recorder laboratory repaired the Tesla Model S event data recorder, which sustained heavy fire damage from the crash.

The module data indicates both the driver and passenger seats were occupied with the seat belts buckled when the crash occurred, the NTSB said. The data also indicates the driver was applying the accelerator leading up to the crash with the maximum engagement of the pedal as high as 98.8 percent. The highest speed recorded by the data recorder in the five seconds before the crash was 67 mph.

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The crash occurred approximately 550 feet from the driver's home on Hammock Dunes Place, just outside The Woodlands. Both the driver and passenger were killed after the car ran off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames.

Law enforcement originally suspected the driver's seat was unoccupied and Tesla's Autopilot feature engaged based off observations at the crash site. In its preliminary findings in May, the NTSB found footage from the owner's home that showed him getting into the driver's seat before leaving the house.

The NTSB also determined that while the fire caused damage to the steering wheel, displacement at the top and left of the wheel was caused by impact.

The NTSB emphasized the findings in its preliminary reports are subject to change as the investigation continues.