A crash involving a Tesla Model S left two people dead Sunday after the car collided with a tree and caught fire, according to local NBC News affiliate KPRC 2 in Spring, Texas. Authorities say an investigation into the crash is ongoing, though the consensus so far is neither of the two men involved in the crash were driving the Model S at the time of impact. On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke out on Twitter to refute initial findings from the early investigation, as two federal agencies examine the wreck.
Two men killed after Tesla that may have been in autonomous driving or self driving mode didn’t adhere to a curve, slammed into a tree then burst into flames in the Woodlands, officials say. Firefighters say they had to call Tesla to figure out how to oust the blaze. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/nmhDxKeTHT
— Deven Clarke (@KPRC2Deven) April 18, 2021
First responders found one of the men in the front passenger seat and discovered the second in the back seat. The seating arrangement points to Tesla's Autopilot or Full Self-Driving mode beta being enabled, though this wasn't explicitly mentioned in the initial report. Musk tweeted that standard Autopilot "would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have."
"Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled and this car did not purchase FSD," he added.
Neither Autopilot nor the Full Self-Driving driver-assist systems are fully autonomous and both are considered Level 2 systems on the SAE scale of autonomy. A Tesla is not capable of handling driving on its own, despite the "Full Self-Driving" name. According to tweets from a local reporter, embedded above, the car failed to navigate a curve in the road and hit a tree before bursting into flames, with no driver behind the wheel to regain control.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed on Monday it deployed a Special Crash Investigation Team to the incident. An agency spokesperson told Roadshow, "We are actively engaged with local law enforcement and Tesla to learn more about the details of the crash and will take appropriate steps when we have more information." Local police also demanded any crash data from Tesla.
Highlighting the need for fire safety in the budding EV era, local crews needed to contact Tesla to understand how to put the fire out. Firefighters used 32,000 gallons of water to get the blaze under control, according to KPRC 2.
Tesla does not operate a public relations department to field requests for comment.