LaGuardia Airport suddenly lost half its runway capacity Wednesday evening after crews spotted a small depression in the pavement near Runway 4/22, prompting a precautionary shutdown while engineers took a closer look.
Port Authority orders precautionary shutdown
The Port Authority said inspectors discovered an approximately two-inch dip in the pavement adjacent to Runway 4/22 and ordered the strip closed at 5 p.m. so crews could run structural tests and carry out stabilization work if needed, according to CBS New York.
“There is no immediate safety concern and the runway is being closed proactively,” the agency said, adding that the Federal Aviation Administration was slowing flights into LaGuardia while the work continued. The Port Authority said it aimed to finish the assessment and any overnight repairs in time to reopen the runway by Thursday morning, per CBS New York.
How this ties back to the May sinkhole
The new shutdown comes just weeks after crews found a larger sinkhole near the same runway in mid-May, a discovery that took Runway 4/22 out of service for several days and triggered widespread delays and cancellations across the airport, NBC New York reported. Emergency crews were dispatched then to pin down the cause and shore up the pavement, and that episode led to extra inspections across LaGuardia’s airfield.
Runway 4/22 had already been flagged for rehabilitation in Port Authority planning documents, meaning engineers have designs in hand for an overhaul that could shape how the latest repair unfolds and how long it takes. Details on rehabilitation projects for the strip appear in files from the Port Authority.
Travel impacts
Even with LaGuardia’s other runway still open, losing one of the airport’s two strips cuts hourly capacity and can send delays and cancellations cascading through the schedule as aircraft and crews fall out of position. Earlier coverage of the May outage from NBC New York showed how quickly those ripple effects can add up during peak times.
The Port Authority and the FAA said they would share more information as testing and any repair work continue. Travelers with upcoming flights were urged to keep a close eye on airline notifications and flight-status alerts for the latest updates.
