UPDATE: Downed helicopter occupants identified

UPDATED 2:30 p.m.

The occupants of the privately-owned helicopter that crashed yesterday afternoon in the Berkshires have been identified.

The pilot has been identified as 40-year-old Gary Arthur of Arlington, Va., an employee of Air 2.

The utility workers on board have been identified as 26-year-old Dallas White of Centerview, Mo., and 23-year-old Michael Brandon Hill of Warresburg, Mo.

Arthur and White are listed in stable condition; Hill is in guarded condition.

A preliminary investigation shows the helicopter appeared to have gone down after the tail rotor got caught in cables, said the Federal Aviation Administration.

White and Hill were replacing static wire with fiber optic cable at the top of a transmission tower when the aircraft crashed, a utility company spokesperson said.

As the crew streamed down fiber optic cables, the tail rotor got caught in the cables, sending the chopper spinning, said the FAA.

The helicopter hit some power lines and went down on Tyringham Road off exit 2 of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Lee, Mass. shortly after 3 p.m.

Arthur, White and Hill were on board the aircraft when it went down; all three were taken to Berkshire Medical Center from the scene with non-life threatening injuries.

A spokesperson from the power company Northeast Utilies said the workers were doing work as part of the "2009 maintenance plan," and were replacing static wire with fiber optic cable at the top of a transmission tower; the job is considered specialized work, and the workers were not direct employees of Northeast Utilities.

The workers were believed to be tethered to the aircraft and working out the back, said the spokesperson, Sandra Ahearn.

The Federal Administration Aviation has turned over the investigation to the National Transportation Safety Board.