Counterfeit Airbag Lawsuit

Lawsuits are being filed by innocent Americans who were injured or died in car accidents when fake airbags made in China exploded.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Counterfeit Airbag injury cases in all 50 states. If you were injured or a loved one died when a fake airbag from China exploded in a car accident, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Airbag Injury & Wrongful Death Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Fake Airbag Injury Lawsuits

Exploding counterfeit airbags from China have been installed in cars throughout America, and victims in these horrific car accidents are now filing lawsuits against auto repair shops, used car dealerships, and mechanics who bought fake parts on websites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and others.

What Are Counterfeit Airbags?

Counterfeit airbags may look like genuine (OEM) parts, but they are often made with substandard materials and defective designs. The risks include:

Airbag fails to deploy in a crash
Deployment is too late to prevent serious injuries or death
Fails to fully inflate
Airbag inflator explodes too forcefully and ejects deadly shrapnel or projectiles that kill or severely injure the driver and/or passengers

Exploding Fake Airbags From China Linked to 5 Deaths

In September 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. safety regulators had linked 5 deaths and other severe injuries to exploding airbags that were manufactured in China by DTN Airbag.

What is the Problem?

The faulty and potentially deadly airbag inflators were made in China by DTN Airbag, also called Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology. The company states prominently on its website: “We do not do business with the United States, and any of our products are prohibits from being sold to the United States.”

Is China Exporting Counterfeit Airbags To The U.S.?

Despite these claims, an unknown number of airbag inflators manufactured by DTN Airbag have flooded the U.S. marketplace in recent years, which poses an alarming safety risk for millions of Americans who now own a used car, or will someday purchase one.

How Did This Happen?

Investigators believe that the faulty airbags manufactured by DTN Airbag were sold on websites like eBay, or other online marketplaces, and installed in cars in the U.S. by auto-repair shops and mechanics.

All of the severe injuries and deaths that were caused by counterfeit airbag parts made by DTN Airbag also involve vehicles that were previously involved in a crash, and then repaired in the U.S. by mechanics who replaced the original airbag with a cheap counterfeit.

Fake Airbags: Cheap & Profitable For Auto Repair Shops

This is a problem because counterfeit airbag inflators from China cost about $100, whereas an authentic airbag can cost $1,000 or more. This price-difference makes it a tempting crime for auto-repair shops to install fake parts and pocket the profit, all at the expense of safety.

Used Car Buyers Beware

Airbags are one of the most commonly counterfeited auto parts because the authentic versions are so expensive, according to Bob Stewart, president of the Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council.

Unfortunately, many innocent Americans who are buying used cars have no idea about the risk of fake airbags. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued this stark warning to the auto repair industry:

“My message to the auto repair industry is clear: whoever is bringing this faulty Chinese equipment into the country and installing them is putting American families in danger and committing a serious crime.”

What Is An Airbag Inflator?

DTN Airbag is a manufacturer of an airbag part called an inflator. This is the part of the airbag that contains highly-volatile, explosive chemicals in a metal container that are supposed to inflate the airbag.

The manufacturing process is extremely important because these chemicals are supposed to burn in a specific way, rapidly producing gas that inflates the airbag within milliseconds to protect the driver from slamming into the steering wheel or the interior of the vehicle.

What Happens When Airbags Explode?

If instead the chemicals in an airbag explode all at once, the airbag may not inflate properly or protect the driver. Instead, the metal canister blows apart and shoots out jagged pieces of metal or plastic shrapnel into the driver and/or passenger’s face, neck, chest, or body, causing severe bleeding or death.

Faulty Airbags May Cause Death After Minor Car Accidents

One of the scariest aspects of these faulty airbags is the fact that they could deploy and explode after minor car accidents at low speeds.

Tragically, some victims have been killed by airbags that exploded after fender-benders or other low-speed accidents that would have normally been survivable. Instead, they were killed by their airbag.

Counterfeit Airbag Lawsuits

Counterfeit airbag lawsuits have been filed against auto repair shops, mechanics, used car dealerships, wholesale used-car auctioning companies, and other defendants on behalf of people who were injured (or family members of people who died) when a counterfeit airbag inflator exploded metal or plastic shrapnel after a car accident.

Young Mom Killed When Airbag Exploded “Like A Grenade”

One sad example is the case of Destiny Byassee, a 22-year-old mother with two young children who died when the airbag exploded in her used 2020 Chevrolet Malibu after a low-speed crash at 30-mph.

Tragically, the airbag ejected metal and plastic shrapnel that sliced open her neck. She was unresponsive by the time paramedics arrived.

Lawsuit Filed After Young Mom Killed by Counterfeit Airbag

The lawsuit filed by her family includes the history of Byassee’s vehicle, which should be a stark warning to anyone buying a used car.

According to the Miami Herald, Byassee’s vehicle was a former Enterprise Rent-A-Car rental car that was involved in a severe car accident in September 2022.

Lawyers said the car should’ve been a total loss, but Enterprise worked with a wholesale auto auctioneer called Manheim to fix and sell it.

They paid an auto repair shop in Florida called Jumbo Automotive Inc. to fix the vehicle. According to Byassee’s lawsuit, that was where the counterfeit airbags from China and faulty seatbelts were installed.

Manheim then auctioned off the vehicle to DriveTime Used Cars, which was where Byassee bought it. Lawyers claim she “had no idea it had been improperly and illegally repaired,” according to the lawsuit.

Examples of Criminals Arrested for Selling Fake Airbags

In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Mohammed Al-Abadi, 51, had pled guilty to trafficking counterfeit airbags from China. Prosecutors say he importing the counterfeit parts and assembled them, and then sold the fake airbags on eBay to unsuspecting auto repair shops and customers for $100 to $725 each.

Also in March 2025, Mateen Mohammad Alinaghian, an engineer with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT), pleaded guilty to importing approximately 2,500 counterfeit airbags from the U.K. and selling them to unsuspecting consumers in the U.S. through Facebook Marketplace.

In February 2022, Emiliano Rodriguez, 44, a citizen of the Dominican Republic living in Pennsylvania, was arrested and charged with trafficking counterfeit airbags in the U.S.. According to the indictment:

“From at least January 2017 through October 2019, the defendant, who is a trained auto mechanic, fraudulently imported counterfeit airbags from China and installed these unproven parts in salvaged autos which were then reintroduced to the consumer market.”

What Should I Do?

In July 2024, the NHTSA reported 3 deaths linked to exploding fake airbags from China and published this Consumer Alert: “Be aware of cheap, substandard replacement air bag inflators that can cause death or serious injury in a crash.”

The NHTSA recommends that consumers should:

Obtain a vehicle history report before purchasing a used vehicle or if they have already purchased a used vehicle and do not know its history.
If the vehicle has been in a reported crash where the air bag deployed, they should visit a reputable independent mechanic or dealership for an air bag inspection to ensure the parts are genuine.
Do business with reputable independent mechanics and manufacturer dealerships. When considering a purchase from a private seller, obtain a vehicle history report and have the vehicle inspected by a trusted mechanic.
Ask about the replacement parts when having a vehicle serviced, including the brand and sourcing of the parts.
Buy with caution when looking at automotive parts online from overseas retailers or sold at prices well below competitors. Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it likely is — and it could be deadly

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