Sinkhole forces runway closure at New York’s LaGuardia Airport

A sinkhole discovered Wednesday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport forced the closure of a runway as emergency crews investigated the cause and planned repairs.

In a post on X, the airport, which handles domestic travel, said the sinkhole was found around 11 a.m. “near runway 4/22” during the operator’s daily morning inspection.

“The runway was immediately shut down, and emergency construction and engineering crews are onsite to determine the cause and complete necessary repairs as quickly and safely as possible,” the post said.

New York’s Port Authority warned travelers to “expect delays and cancellations, particularly with forecast thunderstorms expected later today, and are strongly encouraged to check directly with their airlines for the latest flight status information.”

LaGuardia is built on land reclaimed from the surrounding bay in the 1930s, sitting on an area that once housed homes, hotels and an amusement park.

Airports are increasingly challenged by uneven ground sinking along runways, according to a 2025 report. San Francisco International Airport is reportedly sinking the fastest. Overall, about 3.5 million square meters of runway are experiencing significant sinking, and nearly 14,000 square meters are at high risk of structural damage, the report noted.

The closure comes nearly two months after an unrelated crash in which an Air Canada flight struck a Port Authority fire truck on the same runway, killing two pilots.

By 3 p.m. EST, the FAA’s airport monitoring service reported that due to expected thunderstorms, a traffic management program was in effect for arriving air traffic, causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 37 minutes.