SAN CLEMENTE : Hughes Aircraft Sued in Gulf War Deaths
The families of six Marines killed by an American missile that mistakenly destroyed their armored vehicle during the Persian Gulf War have sued Hughes Aircraft Co. for negligence in the manufacture of the weapon.
Carol Bentzlin, wife of Marine Cpl. Stephen Bentzlin--a San Clemente resident who was the only soldier from Orange County to die in Operation Desert Storm--was among the wives, children and parents who filed the lawsuit on Jan. 29, the first anniversary of the deaths of the six Marines who were erroneously fired upon by a U.S. Air Force A-10 attack plane. Hughes was served with the lawsuit last month.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, says that the AGM-65D Maverick missile was launched toward approaching Iraqi forces but missed its targeted Iraqi vehicle and struck the American personnel carrier, “thereby killing these six brave Marines, instantly, in the desert.”
The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of damages, alleges that Los Angeles-based Hughes and its parent corporation, GM Hughes Electronics, “had so negligently and carelessly manufactured, tested, inspected, stored, transported, distributed and controlled this AGM-65D ‘Maverick’ missile, that (among other things), this missile could deviate from its intended target.”
Cpl. Bentzlin, 23, and five other Marines from the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton, were killed near the border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. When they were killed, the lawsuit adds, they were “outside the range of any possible targets for this missile.”
Joel W.H. Kleinberg, the lawyer for the families, said that according to the design criteria for the missile and its position, it should not have been capable of hitting the Marines’ armored vehicle. The accident had nothing to do with an aiming error, he contended.
“The pilot aimed it correctly. It did not fly as it should,” Kleinberg said.
Richard Dore, manager of media relations for Hughes Aircraft, said the company will soon file its formal response to the allegations in the suit. “We were served May 4 and had 30 days to respond,” he said, adding that Hughes will deny any responsibility for the Marines’ deaths.
“Hughes contends it produced and shipped the Maverick missiles to the U.S. government in strict compliance with government requirements,” he said. On Tuesday, Hughes requested that the case be transferred to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Central District Court in Los Angeles.
