Navy Base Identifies 2 Plane Crash Victims

Officials from Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station released the identities Thursday of two Navy pilots who died after their small plane crashed this week near Lake Hughes in the Angeles National Forest.

Lt. Kent M. Kiepe, 29, of South Festus, Mo., and Lt.(j.g.) Craig R. Melton, 24, of Lake Latawana, Mo., were en route Wednesday to the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, about 70 miles northeast of Bakersfield, when they reported engine trouble, Navy officials said.

The wreckage of the leased single engine Cessna was found in a ravine at a 4,400-foot elevation in the San Gabriel Mountains in northern Los Angeles County.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash.