Sinkhole shuts LaGuardia runway

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shut one of LaGuardia Airport’s two runways on Wednesday after crews found a sinkhole near Runway 4/22 during a daily airfield inspection, triggering delays and cancellations ahead of Memorial Day weekend. The agency said the hole was identified at about 11 a.m. and that emergency construction and engineering crews were sent to the site to assess the cause and make repairs. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was slowing flights into LaGuardia “due to weather and a sinkhole on Runway 4/22.” FlightAware and local television stations tracked mounting delays as the airport operated with reduced runway capacity. ### Where was the sinkhole and why did it matter so quickly? Runway 4/22 is one of LaGuardia’s two runways, and its closure immediately cut the airport’s operating flexibility in half. ABC7 New York and ABC News reported the sinkhole was found near that runway during the morning inspection, after which the runway was “immediately” closed. With only one runway available, arriving and departing traffic had to be consolidated while repair crews worked on the airfield. (abc7ny.com) Queens-based LaGuardia is one of the New York region’s busiest airports for short-haul and domestic traffic, so even a single-runway closure can ripple through airline schedules. CNBC reported the shutdown came as officials were already warning travelers to expect delays and cancellations, with thunderstorms also in the forecast Wednesday. ### How bad were the delays? (abc7ny.com) FlightAware data cited by FOX 5 New York showed LaGuardia was experiencing arrival delays for airborne aircraft averaging 35 minutes and increasing. By Thursday, FlightAware’s live airport page showed the disruption had worsened, listing average arrival delays of 1 hour 3 minutes and departure delays of 1 hour 18 minutes, both decreasing at the time of the snapshot. (cnbc.com) ABC7 New York reported hundreds of delays and cancellations as the runway shutdown collided with severe weather moving into the region. NBC New York said the disruption extended into Thursday morning, while NY1 reported travelers were dealing with both sinkhole-related delays and thunderstorms. ### What have officials said about the cause and repairs? (fox5ny.com) The Port Authority said only that crews discovered the sinkhole during the airport’s daily morning inspection and shut the runway while engineers worked to determine the cause and repair the pavement. CBS New York reported the hole was noticed on the taxiway at the edge of Runway 4/22, while local outlets showed heavy equipment on the scene overnight. (abc7ny.com) ABC News reported the FAA published a notice saying the runway was expected to remain closed until at least 6 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, though that timing was subject to change and weather could slow the work. ABC7 similarly reported airport officials hoped repairs would be completed by 6 a.m. to limit broader holiday-weekend disruption. (fox5ny.com) ### Why is the timing getting so much attention? Thursday, May 21, falls at the start of the Memorial Day travel rush, when airlines and airports are preparing for one of the busiest U.S. flying weekends of the year. That made a runway outage at LaGuardia more consequential than a routine midweek airfield repair. CNBC said the closure came just ahead of the busy holiday travel period, and local stations framed the overnight repair effort around preventing spillover into the weekend rush. (abcnews.com) ABC7 New York reported officials were aiming to finish repairs before the early-morning bank of flights. The FAA notice set 6 a.m. Thursday as the expected reopening point for Runway 4/22, with actual timing dependent on repair progress and weather conditions at the airport. (abc7ny.com) (cnbc.com)