The Civil Aviation Authority had to come down heavily on state-owned SA Express because failing to do so would have damaged the credibility of the country's airlines. Independent aviation expert and head of aviation consultancy firm Plane Talking Linden Birns said all airlines regardless of ownership were subject to the same aviation safety regulations and laws.He said the authority could not slacken on state-owned airlines as this could damage the credibility of aviation and the nation's pilots."All airlines are expected to ensure and demonstrate robust safety-monitoring systems. When the safety regulator conducts an inspection, it should be able to provide a paper trail to prove that its systems are able to detect safety problems," he said.Birns said the authority is subject to international safety audits and has to demonstrate that it discharges its oversight diligently without fear or favour.He said the authority had demonstrated that it would not compromise safety.SA Express will fly again from today following its 42-hour suspension on Friday evening because of concerns over its operations, leaving travellers stranded.Safety operator at the authority Simon Segwabe said the inspection of SA Express uncovered that the airline's safety-monitoring system was inadequate .He said the airline's system should be able to pick up an oil leak, suggest how this sh ould be fixed then provide a paper trail of how the airliner actually fixed the problem .He said the SA Express system was unable to do this to the authority's satisfaction and that the airline had failed to provide an action plan by deadline on Friday, hence the suspension.But Segwabe said the airline complied with the authority's directive on Sunday and the suspension was lifted...