Crews work to repair large sinkhole on LaGuardia Airport runway
EAST ELMHURST, Queens (WABC) -- A sinkhole damaged one of LaGuardia Airport's two runways causing a major headache for travelers.
LaGuardia Airport was forced to cancel and delay hundreds of flights on Wednesday night, some for the sinkhole and the others due to storms in the area.
Thursday morning, travelers hoping to head out early for Memorial Day weekend were hoping for the best.
Emergency crews scrambled to repair the hole by opening, but it remained closed as of 6 a.m. Departing flights were directed to use the second runway.
There were some flights already showing delays and cancellations for Thursday morning.
The large sinkhole opened on Runway 4/22 on Wednesday, immediately taking it out of service and reducing the airport's capacity. Air traffic control audio captured pilots reacting with surprise.
"Ground uhh what happened to the uh runway 4 22?" one pilot asked.
"There's a sink hole," an air traffic controller responded.
"Part of the construction project?"
"I think that's safe to assume that."
"Uhh that's a smart idea."
"It looks like they got equipment out there now."
The sinkhole was found during a daily inspection.
A large illuminated X marked the closed runway, signaling to pilots that it was unusable. Some travelers said the situation was so unusual it was hard to even be angry. "I guess it's like who's there to be mad at?" one person said, laughing.
Emergency crews worked urgently to repair the damage as the busy Memorial Day weekend approached. "It's tough right? It happens like that sometimes I feel like. Always at the worst time," another traveler said.
Crews worked through the night to prevent the disruption from spilling into the holiday weekend at an airport known for its tight scheduling and near-constant aircraft movements.
(ABC News contributed to this report.)
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