Southwest Airlines canceled 70 more flights nationwide, including several in the Bay Area on Monday, as inspections continue on the airline’s Boeing 737s.

About 600 flights were canceled over the weekend, this after a five foot long hole opened up mid-flight on a Southwest jet traveling from Phoenix to Sacramento on Friday afternoon.

That flight made an emergency landing in Yuma, Arizona before passengers were able to continue on to Sacramento.

None of the passengers aboard were seriously hurt, although oxygen masks were deployed as the plane descended from over 34,000 feet.

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue an emergency safety order on Tuesday that would require special inspections for finding hidden metal fatigue in some older Boeing 737s.

The order will require inspections using electromagnetic technology in specific areas of the fuselage of older 737s with a high number of takeoffs and landings.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board reported that the plane that suffered a tear in its fuselage had shown previous signs of wearing.

Southwest officials said they expect operations to get back to normal on Tuesday.

Photo Credit: Brian, via Wikimedia Commons

• Tag: Boeing 737, Cancellations, Emergency Landing, Flights, Fuselage, Hole, Planes, Southwest Airlines