Registered in India in 1991, this four-seater aircraft was manufactured in 1955. To date, it has metered 7,000 flying hours while the average life of such aircraft is 18,000 to 20,000 flying hours.

Purchased by Agni Aviation from Nexus Computers, Pondicherry, about six months ago at Rs 30 lakh, this aircraft has flown 110 hours at Agni. It’s last airworthiness certificate, valid till July this year, was issued in February. Insured at a general insurance company, assessment papers for the insurance claim would soon be submitted, said Agni’s executive captain Prakash.

Cessna feeds on 100 octane aviation gasoline that is more inflammable than the regular automobile petrol. This aircraft had last (before Saturday’s incident) been flown on April 8 by Agni Chief Executive Officer Arvind Sharma who added that Agni had recently acquired one more Cessna.

This man is today in a conundrum not knowing the exact cause of how this 24-feet long aircraft weighing approximately 900 kgs was reduced to 6-feet of wreckage and those in the plane to nothing.

Experts term this as a “mysterious terrible crash,” considering such small aircraft as the ill-fated Cessna 180, do not have the ‘black box’ -- usually relied upon for all post-aircrash investigations.

The country has about 30-35 such aircraft and most of them are not new pieces, said Captain Ranjit Jackson, executive pilot at Agni. “But, they are completely overhauled and each piece is changed.

Apart from the every-25-hour-servicing, the aircraft is virtually dismantled after it completes 100 flying hours and all the pieces are well examined.” History of general aviation in India has seen quite a few crashes. Apart from the ‘deadly’ crashes of Mr Sanjay Gandhi, Mr Madhavrao Scindia, Mr G M C Balayogi, there have been accidents like that of Mr Vijay Mallya and the recent Ahmed Patel case.

When experts were contacted, they too were unable to pin down the precise cause of the air crash. Mr P P Kadambalithaya, Director of Airworthiness- Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said: “It could be the weather conditions, human error or some mechanical fault.“

Similarly, Dr B R Pai, Director National Aeronautical Limited, said the age or the size of an aircraft do not matter. “What matters is how it is maintained and how it is flown. There are certain limitations like the prevalent weather and the airworthiness that need to be respected,” he pointed out.

Air Marshal (retd) P Rajkumar suggested that some gaps be filled. “The high accident rate in general aviation suggests that regulation overseeing mechanism needs to be tightened up and an independent investigating body for air accidents must be set up.”