2 Yorba Linda Residents Die in Plane Crash : Aviation: A Cessna 182 goes down about midnight in Ventura County mountains.

VENTURA —  Two Orange County residents were killed when their small airplane crashed into the rugged mountainous area between Santa Paula and Ojai late Friday.

The victims, both Yorba Linda residents, were identified as pilot Lee Ann Kaiser, 49, and her passenger, Dr. Francisco Garcia, 39.

The couple were en route to Monterey from Fullerton when the Cessna 182 aircraft went down along the 3,500-foot Topa Topa Ridge shortly before midnight, said Ventura County sheriff’s Lt. Gary Markley.

Markley said the department received a call from the Civil Air Patrol in Los Angeles to inform them that they were picking up a signal from a downed plane in the area.

Shortly after sunrise Saturday, the Sheriff’s Department sent a helicopter up to scout the area.

Because of the terrain, the helicopter was not able to land near the crash scene. A search-and-rescue team hiked to the site and removed the bodies from the debris about 11:30 a.m., Markley said.

The crash site was near the Sespe Wildlife Area, a sanctuary for the endangered California condor.

Elly Brekke, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles, said investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the crash.