The NYPD removes damaged helicopter from the East River on Tuesday.Fast-acting NYPD, FDNY heroes save lives, but British tourist dies in East River helicopter crashBY Rocco Parascandola, John Doyle and Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Moments before a doomed chopper crashed into the East River on Tuesday, the pilot yelled to his passengers, "We're going down."
Suddenly, the helicopter plunged upside down into the chilly, fast-moving water, sparking a desperate rescue operation by city cops and firefighters that saved four people from the treacherous water.
Despite their heroic efforts, Sonia Marra Nicholson, a British woman in the city celebrating her 40th birthday, was trapped inside the helicopter and died. The crash left her mother and partner in critical condition. Her stepfather was treated and released.
Veteran pilot Paul Dudley escaped the 3:20 p.m. crash unharmed. "He's very distraught," a source said. "He says he just lost control and it crashed in the water."
PHOTOS FROM THE RESCUE SCENE
"I think that he's okay," Dudley's wife, SunHe Sherwood-Dudley told The Associated Press. "These are actually very dear friends of ours that were in the helicopter."
A source close to the investigation gave a harrowing account of what happened moments after the Bell 206 JetRanger crashed and immediately began taking on water.
Nicholson's stepdad, 71-year-old Paul Nicholson, was sitting beside Paul Dudley, the source said. Her mother, Harriet, and Sonia Nicholson's partner, Helen Tamaki, were sitting with her in the back.
HELICOPTER CRASH NOT A FIRST
"When it hit the water he unbuckled and tried to get to his wife in the back," the source said of Paul Nicholson. "He was pulled out of the water as he was trying to grab his wife."
Paul Nicholson was rescued by NYPD anti-terror and Emergency Service Unit cops who had been in the area. They immediately shed their gear and leaped into the water.
ESU Detective Keith Connelly said that when he reached the helicopter, he saw two men clinging to the skids of the chopper and two unconscious women "just bobbing in the water."
"The pilot was by the helicopter, screaming for help," Connelly said. "He was yelling, 'Someone is in the helicopter!' "
ESU Lt. Larry Serras said it was a long swim and the water was choppy and rough. By the time he got there, the privately owned helicopter had gone under - taking the birthday girl with it.
Serras said he focused on building a makeshift raft out of flotation devices - and making sure the heads of the unconscious women were above the water.
"We were all clumped together," Serras said. "They pulled us in very quickly. It was exhausting."
In the chaos, Dudley somehow drifted away from the officers and was suddenly caught by a swift current about 30 yards from the pier.
That's when Firefighter Robert Lopez of Ladder 7, who had also leaped into the water, came to his rescue. "He was in shock," said Lopez, 39. "He was saying there was someone in the helicopter still."
"Go get them!" Dudley screamed to Lopez.
By then, the chopper had sunk from sight in 50 feet of murky water. It took police about two hours to recover Nicholson's body and bring her to shore.
"It's a sad day," Mayor Bloomberg said. "We pride ourselves on being the most welcoming city in the world, and we are. And to have a family come here to see and experience the best of our city and end up in a tragic accident like this just breaks your heart."
Harriet Nicholson and Tamaki, 43, were in critical but stable condition at Bellevue Hospital. One was in cardiac arrest, and the other in respiratory arrest, sources said. Paul Nicholson was at his wife's bedside Tuesday night.
He and his wife are Brits who live in Portugal, and Bloomberg called British Prime Minister David Cameron to tell him about the crash, according to British press reports. Nicholson and Tamaki had been living in Australia.
Dudley, 56, was treated at the E. 34th St. Heliport for minor injuries, police said.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched its own investigation into the fatal crash.
"Taking off and landing are two of the most difficult and challenging aspects of the flight, and with helicopters it's particularly challenging," former NTSB Managing Director Peter Goelz told the Daily News.
"They go up and down, go sideways and can hover. You've got to monitor an additional array of instruments and factors."
Authorities said the weather was clear at the time of the accident. The wind was blowing at about 15 mph.
Dudley was taking the four tourists on a private tour of the city when something went wrong, police said.
Witnesses said the Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter had gotten about 30 feet off the ground when it stopped climbing and started making a curlicue.
"He was trying to land and there was another helicopter on the pad," witness Carlos Acevedo said. "It seems like he was going down, and then he stopped and spun a couple of times. He went down under the water."
Another witness, Louis Reyes, said he saw "two guys holding on to the side."
"They were screaming, 'Help us! Help us!' " he said.
Then the chopper went under.
"In a minute it was completely gone," said Reyes. "The water just sucked it in."
Luckily, police were nearby, and within minutes they were able to locate the survivors and drag them to shore, where workers at the heliport had lowered ladders into the water.
With Edgar Sandoval, Joe Kemp and Pete Donohue
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
