A sinkhole that developed near a runway at LaGuardia Airport appears likely to keep hampering the New York City transit hub heading into the long weekend.
After having said Wednesday that the runway would reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday, that time came and went and still the runway remained closed. Port Authority said it was getting ready to reopen the runway around noon, but then the agency announced it would still be closed for the time being in order to continue with repairs and inspections.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory that the runway would stay closed until midnight Friday. The FAA advised travelers check with carriers before heading to the airport in order to determine any possible delays.
More delays and cancellations continued to pile up at LaGuardia, in no small part thanks to the sinkhole near Runway 4/22 Wednesday morning. In a statement on social media, the airport said Port Authority was conducting a daily inspection of the airfield when crews discovered the sinkhole.
The runway was shut down, with emergency crews set to determine a cause and make repairs, airport officials said. An excavator could later be seen helping with the fixes.
Port Authority has not shared any details on how the sinkhole may have developed.
The runway where the sinkhole was found is the same one where an Air Canada jet crashed into a Port Authority fire truck while landing in March, killing the two pilots.