Elon Musk says autopilot was not used in fiery Tesla crash in Texas

Federal safety regulators have sent a team to probe into the fatal crash of a Tesla in Texas in which local officials said that no one was behind the wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Monday it has sent a Special Crash Investigation team to The Woodlands to take a look into the Saturday night crash of the electric car.

Investigators are very sure that no one was driving the 2019 Tesla Model S that ran off a suburban parkway, hit a tree, and burst into flames, killing two men inside, according to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman.

But they’re still trying to figure out whether the electric vehicle was operating on Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assist system, or if the company’s “Full Self-Driving Capability” system was being used.

Late Monday afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted a response to observers who expressed doubt about the Wall Street Journal article regarding this crash. Musk claimed that data logs recovered so far indicate that autopilot was not enabled and that “this car did not purchase FSD”.

Furthermore, standard autopilot would need lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have, Musk added.