State police identified yesterday the two people killed in the crash of a World War II-era military training plane Sunday night on Kent Island.

Police identified one victim as Thomas E. Bayne Jr., 49, an official of Flying Tiger Restorations in Waldorf, where he lived. Also killed was Martin T. Lange, 34, of Fort Wayne, Ind., police said.

Police said it was not clear who was the pilot.

Both men were pronounced dead at the crash scene in a wooded area along Columbia Lane in a subdivision known as Queen Anne Colony, police said. No one on the ground was injured.

Police said the single-engine, World War II vintage Vultee BT 15, a two-passenger trainer, crashed about 7: 15 p.m., shortly after takeoff from Kentmoor Airport in Stevensville.

Police estimate the plane traveled about three miles before it crashed.

State police spokesman Pete Piringer said the victims had eaten at a local restaurant shortly before they took off.

"We believe the pilot may have done a flyover across the restaurant shortly before his engine gave out," Piringer said. "Quite possibly the pilot tried to avoid hitting the houses in the area. He brought the plane down in one of the few undeveloped areas there."

The plane burst into flames on impact.

"The magnesium engine block burned very hot, and the fire companies had to use chemicals to extinguish the fire," Piringer said.

Police said the cause of the accident remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Pub Date: 8/04/98