THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996            TAG: 9610260218
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   25 lines

AIR BAGS IN 5 GM CARS ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION

Federal highway safety officials are investigating whether air bags in five different General Motor Corp. cars can deploy spontaneously, posing a potential danger to passengers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's office of defect investigation started looking last month at 1996 models of the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the Buick Regal, the Pontiac Grand Prix, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

If the agency issues a safety recall, a spokeswoman said, 395,994 vehicles would be affected.

The agency has received two complaints of ``inappropriate'' deployments; GM has received three. Three injuries were reported.

Investigators say they believe the deployments were caused by corrosion of the air bag sensing mechanism, a metal component on the floor inside the car. In all five cases, the carpeting surrounding the mechanism was soaked with water, the spokeswoman said.

KEYWORDS: AIR BAGS INVESTIGATION by CNB