A Tesla Model Y, while operating under the 'Smart Summon' feature, collided with a $3.5 million Cirrus Vision Jet at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington. The vehicle continued to push the aircraft across the tarmac after the initial impact. While Tesla's documentation requires users to maintain a line of sight and monitor the vehicle, reports indicate the owner was not actively supervising the car at the time of the incident.
A Tesla Model Y was shown on video slowly crashing into a Vision Jet in Spokane, Washington, allegedly due to its owner activating the “Smart Summon” feature.
Risk classification
- Primary risk domain: 7 AI system safety, failures, & limitations
- Primary risk subdomain: 7.3 Lack of capability or robustness
The Tesla vehicle failed to perform reliably under varying conditions by failing to detect a suspended aircraft tail, leading to a collision.
Additional risk subdomains
- 5.1 Overreliance and unsafe use: The owner unsafely initiated the summon feature around expensive aircraft without maintaining a clear line of sight or active supervision.
Causal factors
- Entity: AI
- Intent: Unintentional
- Timing: Post-deployment
The collision was caused by the AI system failing to detect and stop for the aircraft while operating autonomously post-deployment.
EU AI Act risk tier
High Risk: The system is an autonomous driving feature operating a heavy vehicle in public or semi-public spaces, which has significant implications for physical safety and property.
AI system and alleged parties
- AI system: None named
- AI purpose: Autonomous Driving; Navigation Assistant
- Behaviour type: Autonomous
- Alleged developer: Tesla
- Alleged deployer: Tesla
- Alleged harmed parties: Vision Jet owner, Tesla owner
Harm severity
Severity ratings are based on this scale.
Highest direct severity in any category: Minor. Severity is scored from Negligible to Catastrophic in each harm category, for harm the reports describe as caused directly or indirectly by the AI system.
- Physical: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Infrastructure: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Property: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
- Financial: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
- Environmental: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Malicious content: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Differential treatment: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Civil rights: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Democracy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Privacy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Psychological: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Epistemic: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
- Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
Property
Reported: The report explicitly describes property damage to a private jet and a Tesla vehicle.
Directly caused: A Tesla Model Y crashed into a Cirrus Vision Jet valued at approximately $3.5 million, causing the jet to rotate and sustaining damage to both the vehicle and the aircraft.
Financial
Reported: The report describes 1 incident involving a jet valued at $3.5 million, causing significant property damage and associated financial loss.
Directly caused: The average financial loss per occurrence is not explicitly quantified, but it directly involves repair costs for a $3.5 million private jet and a Tesla Model Y.
Inferred additional harm: Inferred additional financial losses include the high cost of specialized repairs for the Cirrus Vision Jet and the Tesla Model Y, along with potential loss of use of the aircraft.
People affected
- Occurrences reported: 1
- People reportedly exposed: 1
Potential causes
Management
- Prioritizing Viral Hype over Safety: Management promoted the feature as 'viral' despite known crash risks.
- Inadequate Risk Mitigation: Tesla deployed driverless features knowing they fail to detect high objects.
Technology
- Radar and Camera Limitations: System struggles to detect objects lifted off the ground like aircraft tails.
- Failure to Stop After Impact: The vehicle continued pushing the jet instead of halting upon collision.
- Glitchy Beta Software: Smart Summon was a known glitchy beta feature with intermittent performance.
Data Inputs
- Blind Spots for Elevated Obstacles: Sensors failed to feed data about the overhanging aircraft fuselage to the AI.
- GPS Destination Reliance: System navigates to phone GPS without complete path obstacle data.
Human Factors
- Inattentive Operator: The owner was inside a hangar and not monitoring the vehicle.
- Failure to Release App Button: Operator did not lift finger from the app button to stop the vehicle.
- Operating in Unsuitable Area: Owner summoned the vehicle in a hazardous airport tarmac environment.
Process and Methods
- Reliance on User Monitoring: Safety model relies entirely on continuous human monitoring of beta software.
- Inadequate Testing Safeguards: Beta features deployed to public before resolving collision glitches.
Regulatory Environment
- Limited Oversight of Beta ADAS: Regulators allowed public testing of unproven autonomous features.
Information quality
- Classification confidence: High
- Reason for confidence: The reports consistently describe the same event with video evidence, identifying the specific vehicle (Tesla Model Y), the feature used (Smart Summon), the location (Felts Field), and the damaged property (Cirrus Vision Jet). There is high consensus across multiple news sources regarding the core facts of the collision.
- Ambiguities identified: The exact extent of the physical damage to the jet and the Tesla is not quantified, and the exact state of mind or location of the owner during the summon is slightly varied (one report says inside a hangar, others say not paying attention).
- Alternative interpretations: None. The video evidence clearly shows the autonomous vehicle colliding with the stationary aircraft.
A Tesla Model Y operating under the Smart Summon feature collided with a stationary 3.5 million dollar private jet at an airfield. The incident represents a minor physical safety and transport infrastructure issue arising from a lack of sensor robustness and operator inattentiveness, but carries negligible national security implications.
- Overall national security impact: Minor
- Scope: Single nation
- Primary target: No clear primary
- Alleged perpetrator: Individual
Threat characteristics
- Imminence: Long-term. This was an isolated safety incident that has been resolved, posing no immediate or near-term national security crisis.
- Autonomy: Human-supervised. The vehicle operated autonomously via the Smart Summon feature, though safety guidelines required active human supervision which the owner failed to provide.
- Novelty: Evolved capability. While collisions involving driverless features are established, this incident represents an evolved safety risk by occurring on an airfield and involving aviation assets.
Impact by dimension
- Physical security: Minor. The incident involved a collision on an airfield between an autonomous vehicle and a private jet. While occurring on transportation infrastructure, it caused no injuries or major operational disruptions, representing a minor physical security issue managed under standard procedures.
- Information security: Negligible. No intelligence compromise, disinformation campaigns, or information security threats were associated with this incident.
- Sovereignty: Negligible. The incident was a private transport accident with no impact on state authority, government functions, or borders.
- Economic security: Negligible. While involving a 3.5 million dollar aircraft, the financial damage is a private insurance matter and does not threaten national economic security or strategic technology advantages.
- Societal stability: Negligible. The event was an isolated accident with no implications for societal stability, human rights, or civil liberties.
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