{"id":2131,"date":"2026-05-20T20:40:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/20\/sinkhole-shuts-down-runway-at-new-york-laguardia-airport\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T20:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:40:49","slug":"sinkhole-shuts-down-runway-at-new-york-laguardia-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2131","title":{"rendered":"Sinkhole shuts down runway at New York LaGuardia airport"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"19dfbd33-d693-4e58-b7ac-7205b503b62b\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Aerial view of LaGuardia Airport runways and taxiways with green grass areas between them, and aircraft visible\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/7eede822564020ad1b70282173ee29b8c9352cdc\/0_0_5000_3333\/master\/5000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"309.969\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">LaGuardia officials said the runway was \u2018immediately shut down\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"19dfbd33-d693-4e58-b7ac-7205b503b62b\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">LaGuardia officials said the runway was \u2018immediately shut down\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Sinkhole shuts down runway at New York LaGuardia airport<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Officials say sinkhole discovered at about 11am as emergency crews rush to complete repairs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A sinkhole was discovered at New York\u2019s LaGuardia airport on Wednesday, shutting down a runway while emergency crews sought to determine its cause and how to fix it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LGAairport\/status\/2057161051062333452\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">In a post on X,<\/a> LaGuardia, which handles domestic travel, said the sinkhole had been discovered at about 11am \u201cnear runway 4\/22\u201d while the airport\u2019s operator was conducting its daily morning inspection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe 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,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">New York\u2019s Port Authority warned that travelers should \u201cexpect 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\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">LaGuardia is built on land reclaimed from the surrounding bay in the 1930s, and sits on an area that once featured homes, hotels and an amusement park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Airports are increasingly challenged by uneven ground sinking along runways, <a href=\"https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1029\/2025EA004433\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">according to a 2025 report.<\/a> San Francisco international airport is reportedly sinking the fastest. Overall, about 3.5m sq meters of runway experiencing significant sinking, and nearly 14,000 sq meters at high risk of structural damage, the report noted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The closure of LaGuardia comes nearly two months after an unrelated crash of Air Canada flight struck a Port Authority fire truck on the same runway as the sinkhole. Two pilots were killed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At 3pm EST, the FAA\u2019s airport monitoring service<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fly.faa.gov\/fly\/flyfaa\/flyfaaindex?ARPT=LGA&amp;p=1\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> reported<\/a> that due to expected thunderstorms a traffic management program is in effect for arriving air traffic, causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 37 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/new-york\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">New York<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/sinkholes\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Sinkholes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Sinkhole%20shuts%20down%20runway%20at%20New%20York%20LaGuardia%20airport&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/new-york-laguardia-airport-sinkhole?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F20%2Fnew-york-laguardia-airport-sinkhole&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/new-york-laguardia-airport-sinkhole\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LaGuardia officials said the runway was \u2018immediately shut down\u2019. Photograph: NurPhoto\/Getty Images View image in fullscreen LaGuardia officials<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}