Federal aviation regulators issued an emergency order Monday grounding the helicopter tour company involved in a deadly New York crash after learning it had fired its operations director minutes after he had agreed to suspend flights during the investigation.

New York Helicopter Tours, the operator of the chopper that fell into the Hudson River on Thursday, killing a pilot and family of five visiting from Spain, is shutting down operations. The Federal Aviation Administration made that announcement late Sunday,

New York City has seen a long list of helicopter accidents in recent years, with the deadly crash in the Hudson River being the latest in a series of tragedies.