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Tesla running on ‘Autopilot’ repeatedly veered toward the spot where Apple engineer later crashed and died, federal investigators say

The driver had a strategy game called ‘Three Kingdoms’ active on his iPhone 8 during his commute, according to the NTSB

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February 11, 2020 at 6:08 p.m. EST
The scene on March 23, 2018, after a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif. The driver, Apple engineer Walter Huang, died. (AP)

Four days before Walter Huang’s Tesla veered off U.S. Highway 101 in Northern California and into a concrete barrier, killing the father of two, Huang sent a text message describing the car’s “Autopilot” system making a similar error in the same spot, according to documents released Tuesday by federal investigators.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board, using data recorded by Huang’s 2017 Tesla Model X, “confirmed that the Tesla Autosteer system made a left steering movement toward” the area on March 19, 2018. Huang had his hands on the steering wheel at the time and “made a right corrective steering movement” within one second, according to the NTSB.