Earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced its plans to send four investigators to study the fatal crash of a 2014 Tesla Model S Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck a wall and the electric-vehicle battery caught fire. Autopilot does not appear to have been in use, so the investigators will focus on the emergency response to the fire.
“NTSB has a long history of investigating emerging transportation technologies, such as lithium ion battery fires in commercial aviation, as well as a fire involving the lithium ion battery in a Chevrolet Volt in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” NTSB Chairman Robert S. Sumwalt said. “In addition, the NTSB is currently investigating a fire involving the transportation of hydrogen gas for fuel cell vehicles. The goal of these investigations is to understand the impact of these emerging transportation technologies when they are part of a transportation accident.”
The investigators arrived Wednesday evening. They will speak with and offer to partner with organizations that can provide technical assistance related to the crash, a system the NTSB calls a party system.
Those who will be invited to the party system include first responder agencies.