Keith E. Shaw, a military contractor in Kentucky, has been the target of a three-year federal... 
(Department of Justice)
A Louisville military contractor potentially jeopardized the lives of untold U.S. service members by conducting faulty repairs on key flight systems used on military aircraft, sources tell ABC News.
Keith Shaw, the owner of Shaw Aero in Louisville, KY, has been the target of a three-year federal investigation for allegedly billing the U.S. military for "fraudulent" and "defective" repairs on critical aircraft parts, according to an affidavit unsealed in federal court last week.
Shaw ordered his employees to "fraudulently repair" solid state rate gyros, which are used on Army Blackhawk and Navy Seahawk helicopters, according to an affidavit prepared by Jared Camper, an investigator with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Blackhawk helicopters are a staple of the U.S. military and have flown nearly a million flight hours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gyros are a critical element of safe flying experts say, letting a pilot know whether an aircraft is level, climbing, or descending.
Shaw is also under investigation for allegedly billing aircraft supplier Rockwell Collins for uncompleted repair work on laser navigation systems for the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. In addition, Shaw allegedly conducted defective repairs on inertial navigation units for F-5 jet fighter planes used by the U.S. Navy to train pilots.
Because military aircraft often operate in less than ideal flying conditions, taking off without any of these instruments functioning properly can result in disaster, said Hans Weber, an aviation expert at Tecop International Inc. in San Diego.
"The horrible thing about what this sort of thing is, people have to rely on the instruments," Weber said. "The first rule of learning to fly is you have to rely on the instruments. Whatever you see out the window, don't believe it. Believe the instruments. That's an essential element of training people to learn how to fly under difficult visibility conditions."
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