The energy and angular distribution of the ..cap alpha.. particles from the /sup 56/Fe(n,..cap alpha..) and /sup 60/Ni(n,..cap alpha..)= reactions for 14.1 MeV incident neutron energy were measured by means of a multitelescope system. The results concerning the total He-production cross sections and the angle-integrated ..cap alpha..-emission cross sections dsigma/dE/sub ..cap alpha../ are in fair agreement with previous measurements; for the angular distribution no detailed measurements have as yet been reported. The results are analyzed in the framework of the statistical model of nuclear reactions. Comparison of such calculations with the measured ..cap alpha..-emission cross sections allows one to extract nuclear level densities for /sup 53/Cr and /sup 57/Fe, the residual nuclei reached in the studied reactions in the energy region up to the neutron binding energy, and for /sup 56/Fe and /sup 60/Ni, the residual nuclei reached by neutron emission for energies around 11 MeV. Within experimental error a purely exponential increase of the level density with excitation energy was found for both /sup 53/Cr and /sup 57/Fe. The spin cutoff parameters for /sup 53/Cr and /sup 57/Fe derived from the data indicate that there is no reduction of the effective moment of inertia below the rigid body value.