3rd victim of East River helicopter crash dies (VIDEO)

GlobalPost

The East River chopper crash last month claimed its third victim on Sunday.

Harriet Nicholson, 60, of England, died at Bellevue Hospital, where she had been in critical condition since the Oct. 4 disaster, The New York Post reported.

The cause of death was reportedly "respiratory complications of near drowning," CBS quoted Ellen Borakove, the medical examiner’s spokeswoman, as saying, adding that it meant a shortage of oxygen to the brain.

According to the Post: 

Nicholson’s daughter, Sonia Marra, 40, was found dead in the wreckage. Marra’s partner, 43-year-old Helen Tamaki, died on October 11 at Bellevue from complications caused by a lack of oxygen to her brain after she nearly drowned in the crash.

Nicholson’s husband Paul, 71, survived the crash relatively unscathed, as did pilot Paul Dudley.

The group was on a joyride to celebrate Sydney, Australia resident Marra’s 40th birthday when the Dudley, 56, lost control of the 1976 Bell Ranger helicopter after taking off from the East 34th Street Heliport.

(GlobalPost reports: Helicopter crashes into New York's East River (VIDEO)

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The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled out engine failure, saying the Bell 206 helicopter had passed a routine inspected on Oct. 2, CBS reports.

A final report on the exact cause could take up to a year.

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