SPRING, Texas — The NTSB is out with its preliminary investigation into the fiery Tesla crash in April, in which two men were killed in Spring.
The wreck happened the night of April 17, killing 69-year-old Everette Talbot and 59-year-old Dr. William Varner.
According to the report, footage shows Dr. Varner getting in the driver’s seat and Talbot getting into the passenger seat. The car goes about 550 feet before leaving the road on a curve, driving over the curb, hitting a drainage culvert, manhole and finally a tree.
The NTSB says the crash damaged the car’s lithium-ion battery, which started the fire. The console module that tracks speed acceleration, seatbelt and airbag use was damaged in the fire, but was taken to the NTSB lab to be looked at.
The NTSB says the car did have Autopilot, but needs both the Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer features engaged to work. During the NTSB's re-enactment, they weren't able to get the Autosteer feature to engage.
The day after the wreck, Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said that his investigators say no one was in the driver's seat at the point of impact.