Airport workers in western Japan found a 70-centimeter fracture in the fuselage of a China Airlines Boeing 737-800, weeks after a similar plane flown by the company exploded at another Japanese airport.

China Airlines maintenance workers discovered the hairline crack near the tail of the jet during a routine post-flight inspection at Saga Airport on the western Japanese island of Shikoku, Japan's Transport Ministry official Rui Mitsuma said on Sep. 21.

The fracture was found about 30 minutes before the plane's scheduled departure for a return trip to Taipei.

The airline sent another plane from Taipei to pick up the flight's 49 passengers, who left nearly 5 hours behind schedule on Sep. 20.

On August 20, a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 that landed at Okinawa's Naha airport exploded in a fireball at a gate seconds after all 157 passengers and eight crew safely evacuated.

Investigators found a bolt on the right wing slat had come loose and pierced a fuel tank, causing fuel to gush out and catch fire.