A spate of aviation accidents over the past few months has left the nation reeling, with many wondering if there is some sort of systemic, industry-wide problem at play.

The list of recent airplane-related incidents grew by one on Friday when a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza went down near the Pitt-Greenville Airport in North Carolina shortly after takeoff, leaving two dead, as the New York Post reports.

Crash kills two

According to authorities, the ill-fated flight was destined for Vero Beach, Florida, departing North Carolina at 7:46 a.m.

Moments later, the aircraft crashed in the yard of a Consolidated Pipe and Supply Company on Greene Street, roughly a mile away from the airport.

As a result of the incident, North Memorial Drive between Airport Road and Belvoir Road was closed to traffic for much of the day as recovery teams and investigators descended on the accident site.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol reported that the two known souls on board the plane were not located during initial search and rescue efforts, though human remains were identified at the scene.

As local Greenville CBS affiliate WNCT noted, both people in the aircraft were sadly later confirmed dead, though information about their identities was not immediately released.

Comprehensive probe underway

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are in the early stages of their probe of the matter, and a spokesperson for the agency said late on Friday that the circumstances underlying the incident remained unknown at that time, according to Reflector.com.

A representative of the agency was slated to arrive at the crash site Saturday to begin documenting the evidence at hand and examining the aircraft's remains before moving them to a secure facility for a more in-depth review.

It is believed that a preliminary report from the probe's initial phase will be made available within 30 days.

Unfortunately for victims' loved ones, a final report, expected to include a determination of contributing factors and a final cause of the incident is unlikely to be ready for at least a year.

The NTSB has asked that anyone who witnessed the accident or those in possession of relevant surveillance video or other factual evidence contact the agency at witness@ntsb.gov.

Troubling past, new trends draw attention

The Reflector noted that Friday's crash was not the first such deadly event at the Pitt-Greenville Airport, with six individuals having been killed in May 1992 when a Piper PA-32-260 went down just south of the facility's extended runway.

Friday's incident comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of America's aviation system due to high-profile events such as the January mid-air collision over Washington, D.C., an air ambulance crash in Pennsylvania that occurred soon after, and whether these scenarios are indicative of a pervasive industry issue or are otherwise unrelated tragedies, only time will tell.