Sinkhole shuts down LaGuardia runway, causing delays and cancellations

A sinkhole discovered near one of LaGuardia Airport’s two runways shut down part of the New York airport’s operations on May 20, 2026, causing delays and cancellations as crews worked to assess and repair the damage.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the sinkhole was found near Runway 4/22 at about 11 a.m. local time during a daily morning inspection of the airfield. The runway was immediately shut down, and emergency construction and engineering crews were sent to the site.

No injuries were reported.

The Port Authority said it was working with airlines and airport partners and warned travelers to expect delays and cancellations, particularly with thunderstorms forecast later in the day. The agency advised passengers to check directly with their airlines for the latest flight information.

Runway 4/22 is one of LaGuardia’s two main runways. The other is Runway 13/31. Losing either runway can quickly disrupt operations at the tightly constrained Queens, New York, airfield.

The Port Authority did not immediately say how large the sinkhole was or what caused it. Local television images appeared to show a hole several feet across, though officials had not released measurements.

FlightAware showed 191 delays and 200 cancellations at LaGuardia as of Wednesday afternoon. The FAA also slowed flights into the airport because of thunderstorms and the runway issue.

An FAA NOTAM search for LaGuardia reviewed by AeroTime at about 4:45 p.m. ET did not show an active Runway 4/22 closure notice in the visible results, though earlier Port Authority statements said the runway had been closed after the sinkhole was discovered. The NOTAM list did show several existing airfield and construction-related notices at LaGuardia, including markings, lighting, taxiway and runway-holding-position issues.

The Port Authority had not announced when Runway 4/22 would reopen as of the latest public updates.

LaGuardia remained open, but passengers were urged to check flight status directly with their airlines before traveling to the airport.Similar runway-area sinkholes have temporarily closed airport runways before, including at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 2015 and Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in California in 2024. In some cases, closures last hours; in others, subsurface repairs can take days or longer.

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