The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into 2021-2026 Ford Explorer SUVs after drivers and front passengers suffered burns when a side airbag deployed. The probe covers roughly 1,236,155 vehicles.

Ford has not issued a recall. The agency's review is still gathering information, and its scope is narrower than the vehicle count alone suggests.

NHTSA's preliminary evaluation names the 2021-2026 Ford Explorer, covering six model years built with the same side airbag design now under review.

The agency's own filing lays out why it opened the case now. According to NHTSA's opening summary, the Office of Defects Investigation received owner and manufacturer reports of burn injuries after the front seat-mounted side airbag deployed in crashes involving these Explorers. The filing describes injuries diagnosed as second- or third-degree burns that required medical treatment.

The component under scrutiny is the seat-mounted side airbag in the front row, not the steering-wheel or curtain airbags. NHTSA says it has no indication the issue extends to rear seating positions or to other airbags up front.

A preliminary evaluation is the agency's fact-finding stage, before it decides whether a defect exists across the fleet. Ford has faced other Explorer-related actions this year, including a rear suspension fracture recall and a separate roof rail recall, both unrelated to this airbag inquiry.

The agency has logged 11 separate incidents, 10 of which resulted in second- or third-degree burns serious enough to require medical treatment. 00089 percent of covered Explorers.

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