An Apple engineer killed when his Tesla Model X hit a concrete barrier on a Los Angeles highway in March 2018 had previously complained about the vehicle’s Autopilot system malfunctioning in the area where the crash occurred, CNBC reports.
These complaints were uncovered in a plethora of documents released earlier this week by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board that continues to investigate the crash.
In these documents, it is revealed that Walter Huang informed his wife that the Model X had veered toward the same barrier on U.S. 101 where he ultimately crash and died in hospital from his injuries. Huang also told his brother about the Autopilot issue as well as a friend who also owns a Model X. Huang reportedly described how a patch on the driver-assistance system had negatively affected its performance and made the Model X veer.
Huang had taken his Tesla Model X to a service center to fix a “navigation error” but the electric automaker couldn’t duplicate the problem and it was not repaired.
“Walter said the car would veer toward the barrier in the mornings when he went to work,” the Huang family’s attorney said.
Read More: Tesla Sued Over Fatal Model X Crash Involving Autopilot
The family is suing Tesla and Californian’s Department of Transportation for allegedly failing to maintain the highway.
The full NTSB board is set to hold a hearing on the crash on February 25 where it will determine a cause and make safety recommendations.
The agency says California officials failed to fix the barrier that Huang hit despite it being damaged 11 days prior in a separate crash involving a 2010 Toyota Prius. Officials from the NTSB also say the California Highway Patrol failed to notify the California Department of Transportation after the Prius crash, as it is required to, regarding the damage caused to the attenuator designed to prevent vehicles from hitting the end of concrete lane dividers.
