(Bloomberg) -- U.S. safety investigators, who are alreadyprobing suspected flaws in automobile air bags made by TakataCorp., have opened a similar inquiry of those made by anothercompany.

Inflators made by ARC Automotive Inc.,which supplied parts to minivans made by Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesNV and a Kia Motors Corp. sedan, were involved in two incidentsreported to regulators that merit further investigation, theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday indocuments posted on its website.

“Given the potential for injury and the safety-critical natureof air bags, NHTSA has opened this investigation to collect all therelevant data and determine the appropriate steps for safety,”agency spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said in an e-mailedstatement.

NHTSA has been trying to speed the pace of repairs related toTakata-supplied air bags, with recalls now affecting 34 millioninflators. The agency confirmed a seventh U.S. death linked to airbags that inflate with too much force.

ARC Automotive, a closely held maker of air-bag inflators basedin Knoxville, Tennessee, said in an e-mailed statement it has beennotified about the defect investigation and is cooperating.

Safety, security

“We will continue to put our focus where it should be: on thesafety and security of drivers,” according to the company, whichwas formed in 1949 as Atlantic Research Corp. to developpropellants for the Defense Department. It licensed inflatortechnology to carmakers beginning in 2002, according to itswebsite.

Fiat Chrysler also is cooperating with the agency’sinvestigation, said Eric Mayne, a spokesman for the company’sAuburn Hills, Michigan-based U.S. unit.

“We no longer use this inflator,” Mayne said. “Any questionspertaining to other vehicles are highly speculative, especiallyconsidering NHTSA’s inquiry is in progress.”

The latest investigation began with a report regulators receivedin December about an incident involving a 2002 Chrysler Town andCountry minivan. In that case, an ARC inflator was placed in anair-bag module assembled by another parts supplier, Key SafetySystems. Preliminary analysis suggests the gas used to inflate thebag may have been blocked by “an object of indeterminate origin”leading to an explosion, NHTSA said.

Metal shards

The accident led to a lawsuit filed in state court in Ohio. Theexplosion shot metal through the driver’s neck and into her spineand sent shards into her chest and jaw, according to the lawsuit.The case against Key Safety Systems settled quickly, plaintiffs’attorney James Lowe, told Bloomberg News in an interview inOctober.

The complaint says the driver, Lois Dutton, suffered “severe anddisabling physical injuries, both physical and mental pain andsuffering, was required to be hospitalized continuously for morethan three months.” Neither the complaint nor NHTSA’s summaryindicates a fatality.

Lowe said Tuesday he hadn’t been aware of NHTSA’s investigation.Chrysler wasn’t named in the lawsuit because the accident occurredduring the company’s bankruptcy.

“She got creamed,” Lowe said of Dutton. “It was like an IEDexplosion.”

The cause of the second incident, reported to NHTSA in June,hasn’t been determined, Trowbridge said. That case involved a 2004Kia Optima in New Mexico. The air-bag module in that vehicle wassupplied by Delphi Automotive Plc, NHTSA said. There was an injuryin the accident, according to the agency.

Kia Motors proactively notified NHTSA after learning of itssingle air-bag inflator incident, company spokesman Scott McKeesaid in an e-mailed statement.

“Although we are not the subject of the investigation, we aretaking this matter very seriously and support NHTSA’s action andwill continue working cooperatively with the agency and suppliersthroughout the process,” McKee said.

--With assistance from Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan andMargaret Cronin Fisk in Detroit.

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