Timeline of Takata airbag recalls

(Reuters) -- Following are some key events in the cumulative global recall by more than 10 automakers since 2008 of more than 31 million cars fitted with potentially defective air bags made by Japanese firm Takata Corp.

2008

Nov. 4: Honda Motor recalls 4,000 Accords and Civics (2001 models) globally as Takata airbag inflators may produce excessive internal pressure causing them to rupture and spray metal fragments in the car.

2009

May 27: Oklahoma teen Ashley Parham dies when the airbag in her 2001 Honda Accord explodes, shooting metal fragments into her neck. Honda and Takata deny fault and settle for an undisclosed sum.

Dec. 24: Gurjit Rathore is killed in Virginia when the airbag in a 2001 Accord explodes after a minor accident, severing arteries in her neck, court documents show. Her family sues Honda and Takata for more than $75 million in April 2011, claiming they knew of the airbag problems as early as 2004. Honda and Takata settle in January 2013 for $3 million, according to court documents.

2010

Feb. 9: Honda expands earlier recalls

2011

April 27: Honda recalls 896,000 Honda and Acura 2001-03 cars in order to find defective Takata airbag inflators installed as replacement parts.

Dec. 1: Honda again expands recalls.

2013

April 11: Toyota Motor, Honda, Nissan Motor and Mazda Motor recall 3.4 million vehicles globally due to possibly defective Takata airbags.

April 18: Takata says to book extraordinary loss of $307 million for year to March 2013 for recall-related costs.

May 7: BMW joins recalls.

May 10: Takata posts record $212.5 million annual net loss, and names Swiss national Stefan Stocker as president, the first foreigner in the post.

Sept. 3: Devin Xu dies in a 2002 Acura TL sedan in a parking lot accident near Los Angeles from "apparent facial trauma due to foreign object inside air bag," according to a coroner's report.

2014

June 11: Toyota expands prior recall to 2.27 million vehicles globally; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opens probe, examining whether driving in high humidity regions contributes to the risk of Takata airbag explosions; Takata says there is nothing to indicate any inflator safety defects.

June 23: Honda, Nissan and Mazda recall 2.95 million vehicles, expanding April 2013 recall, bringing the total recall to about 10.5 million vehicles over five years.

June 26: Takata CEO apologizes to shareholders at AGM.

July 16: BMW recalls about 1.6 million cars worldwide.

July 18: Takata says to book special loss of about 45 billion yen ($440 million) in April-June for recalls.

Oct. 2: Orlando woman Hien Thi Tran dies four days after her 2001 Accord is in an accident in which the airbag explodes, shooting out shrapnel, according to a police report.

Oct. 21: Takata shares drop 23 percent in Tokyo.

Oct. 22: NHTSA expands total number of U.S. vehicles recalled for Takata airbags to 7.8 million over past 18 months.

Oct. 27: A first case seeking class-action status is filed in Florida, claiming Takata and automakers, including Honda and Toyota, concealed crucial information on airbags.

Nov. 6: Takata warns of bigger full-year loss, and pays no interim dividend for first time since 2006.

Nov. 7: The New York Times reports Takata ordered technicians to destroy results of tests on some airbags after finding cracks in inflators. Democratic lawmakers call for criminal probe into Takata.

Nov. 10: Takata shares drop 17 percent to 5½-year low.

Nov. 13: Honda says a woman -- later identified as Law Suk Leh, 43 -- died in Malaysia in July after being hit by shrapnel from a Takata airbag in her Honda City -- the first such fatality outside the U.S.; Takata says it has modified the composition of its airbag propellant; Honda widens recalls; taking its total alone to nearly 10 million.

Nov. 20: U.S. Senate hearing into Takata airbag crisis.

Dec. 4: At U.S. Senate hearing, Takata says unable yet to find “root cause” of airbag ruptures.

Dec. 11: Honda, Nissan add to recalls in Japan.

Dec. 16: Honda recalls around 570,000 cars in China over Takata airbags Dec. 17; Mark Rosekind confirmed as new head of NHTSA.

Dec. 24: Stocker steps down as Takata president.

2015

Jan. 29: Honda says 35-year-old Carlos Solis was killed in Houston in a 2002 Accord fitted with a Takata airbag that may have ruptured.

Feb. 11: Takata says to double output of replacement airbag inflators by September.

Feb. 20: U.S. regulators impose daily fine of $14,000 on Takata for failing to fully cooperate with airbag probe.

March 23: Honda hires U.S. engineering consultancy Exponent to investigate Takata airbag faults.

May 8: Takata says expects to return to profit in 2015-2016.

May 13: Toyota says it will recall 5 million cars globally, including Corolla and Vitz models from 2003-07; Nissan to recall 1.56 million cars, taking overall global recalls to more than 31 million in eight years.

May 19: Takata acknowledges that its airbag inflators in nearly 34 million vehicles are defective, which could prompt one of the largest recalls for a safety defect in U.S. history.