I think the CAA got a general picture of Emerald and eventually got so annoyed, they pulled the plug.
I cannot think of a similar situation, so they must have been pretty sure of themselves to take such drastic action. Let's face it, they aren't exactly known for taking companies to task. Individual's maybe but not whole organisations.
I'm afraid Emerald was always on borrowed time with MOB in place, it was well known what a shambles the records system was in. I remember asking for copies of my records after I left and being told that didn't have a clue where they were and that most of the current crew training records were also missing........
The operation WAS unsafe most of the time. I certainly had a large number of worries about both mine and other crews safety. The only reason there weren't more accidents is down to luck and skill, rather than design.
It was rubbish 18 months ago, I can't imagine it got any better.