EXCLUSIVE: Australia is slammed for failing to offer official condolences to China after plane crash tragedy killed 132 people: 'We're better than that'

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Australia has been slammed by an expert over its official silence in the wake of China's horrific plane crash tragedy which claimed the lives of 132 people on board.

China expert Professor James Laurenceson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday the Morrison Government is missing an opportunity to show we don't just see China as a nation of 'iron ore sales and military threats'.  

The doomed China Eastern flight MU5735 inexplicably plummeted from the sky into a mountainside in the Guangxi region on Monday - where recovery teams are still combing through the debris. 

The mysterious and sudden nose-dive of the Chinese Boeing 737-800 has shocked the globe, triggering an outpouring of grief for the victims of flight MU5735.

However, both Scott Morrison and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are yet to make a formal statement two days later with the none of the Prime Minister's official transcripts noting a single reference to the tragedy.

Political relations between Beijing and Canberra have been extremely frosty over the past few years with the two nations engaged in a major trade spat after the communist superpower imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of key Australian exports.

However, other countries like Canada and India - which have also been locked in a bitter diplomatic feuds with China - put aside their differences in the short term and were quick to offer their sympathies and condolences.

Australia has been slammed for staying silent in the wake of China's horrific plane crash tragedy that claimed the lives of 132 people on board. Pictured: Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne

'Two years ago, 20 Indian soldiers died in a border clash with China,' Prof Laurenceson tweeted.

'Yet within a few hours of the MU5735 tragedy, Modi expresses what certainly reads as genuine condolences. Johnson/Trudeau too. 

'But Morrison, Payne? Still nothing. Something is broken in Canberra.'

The director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney said by showing 'solidarity and goodwill' with China in the wake of the disaster after years of vitriolic conflict, the Morrison Government may have been able to repair the severed relationship. 

'Aside from it being the obviously right thing to do on moral grounds, it's an opportunity to signal to China that we understand the relationship is about more than iron ore sales and military threats,' he said. 

'Frankly, we also reveal an insularity and our callousness about ourselves. We should be aspiring to be better than that.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ask why a formal statement was not been issued, but has not received a response.  

'I really can't guess the motivation of the Morrison government in not issuing a statement,' Prof Laurenceson said.

'It's hard to imagine that no-one would have thought of the idea. 

'So it's either a deliberate decision not to for reasons I can't fathom, or it ranks so low on their list of priorities that they feel it can wait.' 

China expert Professor James Laurenceson (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia the Morrison Government is missing an opportunity to show we don't just see China as a nation of 'iron ore sales and military threats'

Prof Laurenceson said Scott Morrison (right) and Marise Payne (left) are missing a vital opportunity to show solidarity and goodwill with China after years of vitriolic conflict

Rescue workers in China have speculated that the fire resulting from the crash had 'totally incinerated' the passengers and their belongings, before causing damage to the surrounding forest.

China Eastern yesterday grounded all of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the incident, in which the plane suddenly nose-dived and plummeted 30,000ft in two minutes before slamming into the ground at 350mph. 

The crash represents China's deadliest air crash in nearly three decades. The deadliest Chinese commercial flight accident was a China Northwest Airlines crash in 1994, which killed all 160 onboard.  

President Xi Jinping quickly called for a full probe following the crash as search teams, firefighters and other personnel descended upon the site in a rural area of Guangxi province. 

State media showed uniformed search teams clambering over a scene of upturned earth, blasted trees and scattered debris, including a section of plane bearing the carrier's blue and red livery. 

Rescuers are pictured searching for the black boxes at a plane crash site in Tengxian County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 22, 2022

This photo taken on March 21, 2022 shows paramilitary police officers conducting a search at the site of the China Eastern Airlines plane crash in Tengxian county, in China's southern Guangxi region. A China Eastern passenger jet carrying 132 people crashed onto a mountainside in southern China on March 21, causing a large fire

Rescuers are making all-out efforts to retrieve the black boxes of a passenger plane that crashed on Monday afternoon

Rescue teams searching the site of where a China Eastern passenger jet crashed onto a mountainside in China's southern Guangxi region

The airline said the cause of the accident - China's deadliest air crash since 1994 - will be fully investigated

Rescue workers speculated that the fire resulting from the crash had 'totally incinerated' the passengers and their belongings, before causing damage to the surrounding forest

They are conducting a diligent search for the plane's black boxes, in the hope the recording systems will shed more light on the reason behind the disaster. 

Other teams were shown launching drones, in a search mission complicated by the steep terrain and dense vegetation.

The airline earlier on Monday acknowledged that some aboard the jet, which was travelling from the city of Kunming to the southern hub of Guangzhou, had died, but did not offer more details. 

'The company expresses its deep condolences for the passengers and crew members who died in the plane crash,' China Eastern said in a statement late Monday without providing more information. 

Families of the passengers and crew members are still waiting to hear more information about the disaster. 

The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft, which departed from Kunming and was bound for Guangzhou, crashed into a mountainous area in Tengxian County, causing a mountain fire, according to the department

Rescuers and health officials flocked to the site of the crash last night and worked through the night to gather as much detail on the crash as possible while carrying out last ditch searches for survivors

Rescue staff and aviation officials are pictured preparing equipment for the analysis of debris at the site of the crash

Shocking CCTV footage emerged on social media supposedly showing the jet racing vertically towards the ground in the moments before the smash

Local villagers were the first to arrive at the crash site on Monday, where the aircraft sparked a fire large enough to be captured on NASA satellite images.

Hundreds of rescue workers were subsequently dispatched from Guangxi and the neighbouring Guangdong province.

State broadcaster CCTV said China Eastern set up nine teams to deal with disposal of the plane, accident investigation, family assistance and other pressing issues.  

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and China Eastern both said they also sent officials to the crash site.   

State media reported all 737-800s in the airline's fleet were ordered grounded following the crash. The model is the predecessor to the controversial 737 Max model but is regarded as safe despite a series of crashes over its long history.

Speaking to The Sun Online, aviation expert Sally Gethin said flight data suggests there was a '10 to 20-second spell where one or more of the pilots regained consciousness and tried to save the plane' before it smashed inthe the ground.

All of those on board 'would have been unconscious' for this final plunge, Gethin suggests. 

She added: 'Pilots get a huge amount of training, much of it in simulators. But in the real world, they can get overwhelmed or disorientated by sudden events. This is known as the startle effect, and it is every hard to train for that. 

'Even experienced pilots can be caught off guard and that's when they can make poor judgements. Now there are efforts to recognise that and offer additional training.'

Ms Gethin said it is 'too soon to speculate' about what may have caused the crash, but some possibilities could have been a malfunction with the tail, weather, or a myriad of issues which may have affected the aircraft such as a 'small fire on board' or a wiring issue.

She added it is 'unusual' that the co-pilot had 30,000 hours of flight experience while the pilot only had 7,000 hours under their belt. 

A third trainee pilot, who only had a few hundred hours of flying experience, was also on the plane.

Boeing shares sank by more than 4 percent this morning, in the latest catastrophe to hit the firm after the 737 Max crashes caused by faulty flight control software led to the indictment of Boeing's top pilot, a $225 million settlement with investors and a $2.5 billion payout to the families of those killed.  

The China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 suffered a catastrophic 'loss of control event' and nosedived before smashing into the Chinese hillside, erupting in a huge fireball and causing a forest fire visible in NASA satellite images taken from Space, near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county in the southern province of Guangxi.

A rescue official reportedly said the plane had completely disintegrated while a fire sparked by the crash ripped through bamboo and trees before being put out. China Eastern expressed 'deep condolences' after confirming the fatalities of 123 passengers and nine crew who were onboard, adding that all the victims were Chinese. 

Horrifying CCTV footage emerged on social media supposedly showing the jet racing vertically towards the ground in the moments before the smash. 

FlightRadar tracking data showed the aircraft cruising at 29,100ft at 2.20pm. Around two minutes later it had plummeted to just over 9,000ft and 20 seconds after that it had fallen to just 3,225ft. The data indicates a vertical descent of 31,000ft per minute or around 350 mph.

Altitude data also appears to show aircraft regain height at around 7,5000ft before beginning its final descent.  

President Xi Jinping said that he was 'shocked' by the incident and called for an 'all-out effort' by the rescue operation, as well as for an investigation into the crash and to ensure complete civil aviation safety. 

On Monday night, an Associated Press journalist saw police officers and security guards patrolling outside the office with flashlights, ordering journalists to leave.

At a hotel near the airport, about a dozen people, some in jackets identifying them as members of China's aviation agency, huddled around tables and read documents.

The US National Transportation Safety Board today tweeted Monday that it had picked a senior investigator to help with the crash investigation.

The US Federal Aviation Administration, which certified the 737-800 in the 1990s, said it was ready to help in the investigation if asked.

Chicago-based Boeing Co. said it was in contact with the US safety board 'and our technical experts are prepared to assist with the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.'

Crash investigations are usually led by officials in the country where the crash occurred, but they typically include the airplane's manufacturer and the investigator or regulator in the manufacturer's home country.

It is not yet clear what forced the sudden dip and crash, but aviation experts told MailOnline it may have been 'a loss of control event, possibly following a high altitude stall of the aircraft' or a sensory failure in the cockpit. 

Rescuers conduct search and rescue work around the plane crash site in Tengxian County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Wreckage from the plane found at the crash site in Tengxian County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

People sit in an area where relatives of the passengers of the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane, which crashed in Wuzhou flying from Kunming to Guangzhou, wait for news, at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China

Hey Ye, a colleague of one of the passengers on China Eastern flight MU5375, talks to journalists, after the plane failed to arrive at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China's southern Guangdong province today

People sit in an area where relatives of the passengers of the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane, which crashed in Wuzhou flying from Kunming to Guangzhou, as they wait for news

Relatives of passengers on China Eastern flight MU5375 are seen at the holding area, after the plane failed to arrive at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China's southern Guangdong province

The plane, flight number MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou, got into trouble over the city of Wuzhou, before it plummeted 29,100ft into a mountainside on Monday

The plane, flight number MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou, is believed to be a Boeing 737-89P, which is not part of the MAX series that has been dogged by problems in recent years.

Shares of Boeing fell 5.6 percent to $182.06 in mid-morning trading. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The crash will renew calls for China to make its aviation safety record - which is considered good but allegedly sees an underreporting of safety lapses - more transparent.

China's Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the aircraft lost contact over the city of Wuzhou. 

The CAAC said in a statement: 'The CAAC has activated the emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene.'

The Aviation Safety Network said: 'We are following multiple unconfirmed reports about a possible accident involving China Eastern Airlines flight #MU5735 a Boeing 737-89P (B-1791) en route from Kunming to Guangzhou, China.'

President Xi said: 'We are shocked to learn of the China Eastern MU5735 accident.

He also called for 'all efforts' towards the rescue and to find out the 'cause of the accident as soon as possible'.

One villager told a local news site the plane involved in the crash had 'completely fallen apart' and he had seen forest destroyed by the fire caused by the crash.

A local official added: 'The exact location of the accident was Langnan township in Teng county.'

Families of those onboard gathered in China Eastern Airlines' Yunan branch late on Monday and were assisted by staff as they wait for news of their loved ones.

China has more 737-800s than any other country - nearly 1,200 of the planes, and if other Chinese airlines ground the plane, it 'could have a significant impact on domestic travel,' said aviation consultant IBA.

Boeing 737-800s have been flying since 1998, and Boeing has sold more than 5,100 of them. They have been involved in 22 accidents that totaled the planes and killed 612 people, according to data compiled by the Aviation Safety Network, an arm of the Flight Safety Foundation.

Speaking about the 737-800, the foundation's president Hassan Shahidi said: 'There are thousands of them around the world. It's certainly had an excellent safety record.'

Mr Shahidi added he expects investigators to comb through the maintenance history of the plane and its engines, the training and records of the pilots, air traffic control discussions and other topics. 

The flight departed the southwestern city of Kunming at 1.11pm (5.11pm GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed. But tracking ended at 2.22pm (6.22am GMT) at an altitude of 3,225 feet with a speed of 376 knots. The plane had been cruising at an altitude 29,100 feet at 6.20am GMT, according to FlightRadar24 data.

Just over two minutes and 15 seconds later, the next available data showed it had descended to 9,075 feet. In another 20 seconds, its last tracked altitude was 3,225 feet. It had been due to land in Guangzhou, on the east coast, at 3.05pm (7.05am GMT).  

A rescue official reportedly said the plane had completely disintegrated while a fire sparked by the crash ripped through bamboo and trees before being put out (pictured, the crater where the plane landed)

A wildfire caused by the high-impact smash into the mountainside is pictured after the plane crash landed earlier on Monday

The China Eastern plane smashed into countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region, and 'caused a mountain fire', state broadcaster CCTV said. Pictured: Footage of the crash posted on social media

Rescuers set out to the plane crash site of Tengxian County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, earlier today

A huge force of 23 fire trucks and 117 rescuers were said to have been deployed in a bid to search for survivors, though it was later confirmed all 132 people on board had perished. 

The website of China Eastern Airlines was later presented in black and white, which airlines do in response to a crash as a sign of respect for the assumed victims.

Arthur Rowe, specialist fellow in gas turbine performance and operability centre for propulsion engineering at Cranfield University, told MailOnline: 'It looks most likely a loss of control event, possibly following a high altitude stall of the aircraft.

'As usual there are multiple possible causes. Jammed or unresponsive control surfaces, especially on the tail are one.

'An inappropriate combination of autopilot settings is another - I'm not familiar with the details of this aircraft's flight controls though.

'Sabotage, although that's probably unlikely on a domestic Chinese flight given the Covid restrictions on entering the country.

'It's unlikely to be engine related as aircraft can fly perfectly well with no engine power - for a limited time obviously.'

Professor Bharath Ganapathisubramani, from Southampton University's engineering and physical sciences department added: 'Having looked at this and discussed with colleagues, we think that it is far too early to even speculate on possible causes.

'If the Flight Data Recorder and slash or the Cockpit Voice Recorder are found and are in a usable condition, we should know much more in a few months' time, with a final, definitive answer to what caused the tragedy likely to emerge in a year or so - based on the typical timelines of such events.'

Tao Yang, associate professor in engineering at Nottingham University, said: 'The plane was completely out of control and at this stage it is very difficult to say what has happened.

'However, most of the aeroplane accidents are related to sensors failure - ice protection fails.' 

The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 plummeted rapidly then appeared to have smashed into the hillside near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county

A Chinese airliner with 133 people on board has crashed in the southern province of Guangxi, erupting in a horror fire across a mountain

The China Eastern plane smashed into countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region and 'caused a mountain fire', state broadcaster CCTV said

Parts of the plane were strewn across the countryside following the crash and fireball on Monday afternoon in China

Rescuers are seen in footage from CCTV piling on to a bus as they start their mission to search for survivors of the plane crash today

The plane (file photo of it is pictured) stopped transmitting data just southwest of the Chinese city of Wuzhou, according to data from Flight Radar. Chicago-based Boeing Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Aviation data provider OAG said this month state-owned China Eastern Airlines was the world's sixth-largest by scheduled weekly seat capacity and the biggest in China.

It has had a relatively strong performance in the domestic market during the coronavirus pandemic despite tight curbs on international flights, OAG said.

It is one of China's top three airlines, operating scores of domestic and international routes serving 248 destinations.

The aircraft was delivered to China Eastern from Boeing in June 2015 and had been flying for over six years.

The twin-engine, single aisle Boeing 737 is one of the world's most popular planes for short and medium-haul flights.

China Eastern operates multiple versions of the common aircraft, including the 737-800 and the 737 Max. The 737 Max version was grounded worldwide after two fatal crashes.

China's aviation regulator cleared that plane to return to service late last year, making the country the last major market to do so.

The popular 737-800 variant has a maximum seating capacity of 189 and is equipped with CFM-56 engine, according to the planemaker's website.

The engines are made by a joint venture between General Electric Co and France's Safran SA.

The safety record of China's airline industry has been among the best in the world in the past decade.

But it is also less transparent than in countries like the US and Australia where regulators release detailed reports on non-fatal incidents, said Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at industry publication Flightglobal.

'This makes it hard to get a sense of the true situation with Chinese carriers,' he said. 'There have been concerns that there is some underreporting of safety lapses on the mainland.'

According to Aviation Safety Network, China's last fatal jet accident was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people were killed when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to Yichun airport in low visibility.

The 737-800 model that crashed today has a good safety record and is the predecessor to the 737 MAX model that has been grounded in China for more than three years following fatal crashes in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia.

Boeing was forced to stop the 737 Max after the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia happened less than six months apart.

The first disaster happened October 29, 2018, when a Max flying as Lion Air flight JT 610 fell into the Java Sea 15 minutes after taking off from Jakarta.

All 189 aboard the plane died, including 180 Indonesians, one Italian and one Indian. The second was on March 10, 2019, when Ethiopian Airlines slight ET 302 took off from the Ethiopian capital and crashed. 

All 157 people onboard the plane died. The plane was grounded around the world and thousands of holidaymakers and travellers missed their flights.

Boeing reported on July 14, 2019, that customers cancelled orders for 60 of the grounded 737 MAX jets in June.  The aircraft maker removed another 123 planes from its backlog over doubts that the deals will be completed.

In 1992, a China Southern 737-300 jet flying from Guangzhou to Guilin crashed on descent, killing all 141 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.

Most of the passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared in March 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, were from China.