The helicopter tour operator responsible for the fatal crash in New York last week was grounded by an emergency order issued by US authorities on Monday.
According to a statement from interim administrator Chris Rocheleau, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took the step after learning that the company’s operations chief, who had consented on Sunday to voluntarily suspend flights, had been sacked.
When the New York chopper Tours chopper broke down and fell into the Hudson River on Thursday, a Spanish businessman, his wife, and three kids perished along with the pilot.
The family was on a tourism flight over Manhattan, described by the operator as the “ultimate sightseeing tour of New York City.”
According to the FAA’s order, the head of operations at New York Helicopter was fired shortly after he agreed to a request by the agency on Sunday to shut down flights the crash was investigated.
New York Helicopter chief executive Michael Roth notified the FAA in an email that he did not authorize a cease of operations and that the person who agreed to do so was no longer with the company, according to the FAA.
“The immediate firing of the director of operations raises serious safety concerns,” the FAA said in its emergency order.
If New York Helicopter does not surrender its air-carrier certificate immediately, it will be hit with legal action including civil fines of as much as $17,062 a day until it complies, the FAA told Roth in the letter.
The civil aviation authority already announced reviews of the helicopter tour operator’s license and safety record.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
Working theories, according to Jersey City officials, included a mechanical failure, a bird hit, or a drone collision.
The incident has been captured on video, which appears to show the fuselage separating from the rotor.
Following a series of fatal crashes, notably the January collision in Washington that killed 67 lives between a military helicopter and a passenger jet, the crash has brought attention to US aviation safety once again.
On Friday, a light aircraft also crashed after taking off from Florida’s Boca Raton airport; according to local media, the plane had a mechanical problem and three persons were killed.
