LaGuardia runway remains closed after sinkhole emerges; flights disrupted

One of the two runways at LaGuardia Airport remained closed on Thursday, forcing dozens of delays and flight cancellations — as crews battled bad weather while attempting to make emergency repairs to damage caused by a sinkhole.

The Port Authority, which operates the airport, said in a statement on Thursday: "LaGuardia’s Runway 4/22 remains closed as emergency construction and engineering crews complete necessary repairs and proactive inspections of the airfield as quickly and safely as possible.

The statement continued: "We fully expect to be able to reopen the runway before flight operations tomorrow. Pending the results of continued inspections and repairs, an earlier reopening is possible."

The Port Authority said although Runway 13/31 remained open to flight operations, delays were expected throughout the day. Officials urged travelers to "check with their airline for flight status before arriving at the airport."

The sinkhole was discovered near Runway 4/22 during routine inspections around 11 a.m. Wednesday, leading to its immediate closure.

The runway is the same one closed for days following the fatal crash of an airport fire truck and an arriving Air Canada Express jet on March 22.

Photos from the sinkhole scene showed a worker standing in the waist-deep hole.

As of 10 a.m., airport flight trackers were showing 41 flights had been delayed on Thursday, another 34 canceled. It was unclear how many of those were weather-related — and how many were because of the sinkhole.

The Port Authority has not provided an explanation on what might have caused the hole. It also was not clear if there is concern additional sinkholes might be possible.

On Wednesday, the tracking service FlightAware reported 321 flights had been delayed and another 250 canceled as a result of weather and the runaway shutdown caused by the sinkhole. That was as of 7:30 p.m.

The situation at LaGuardia comes amid a recent rash of sinkholes in the metropolitan area, one which last week partially swallowed a car on the Long Island Expressway in Melville, while another stranded a bus Wednesday in the Bronx. The FDNY and NYPD said the Bronx roadway, which occurred at the intersection of Bronx Park Avenue and East 180th Street, collapsed under the right rear wheel of a public school bus carrying more than two dozen children. All were able to safely exit the stranded vehicle.

Authorities said one person on the bus suffered minor injuries, but did not specify further.

One expert on sinkholes, Stony Brook University assistant professor of civil engineering Wei Li, told Newsday recently that the subsurface of the landscape makes sinkholes a "pretty common" occurrence on Long Island. That is, Li explained, the ground beneath our feet on geographic Long Island "sometimes does not pack very well" — leading to the collapse of the top layers of soil into the voids created beneath them.

Those voids can be the result of a range of causes, from leaking underground water pipes and aging infrastructure to leaching caused by natural water-caused erosion in the subsoil.

Often playing a role in sinkholes in the area is sandy soil, the freeze-thaw cycles prevalent in the Northeast, heavy rainfall and even construction errors and vibrations caused by traffic, according to the website of the Farmingdale-based nonprofit Citizens Campaign for the Environment. 

Roads, highways and airport runways — all of which see high volume of heavy vehicles and machines in addition to dramatic shifts in weather and environmental conditions — are especially prone to potholes, sinkholes, pavement fractures and cracking, experts say.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.