KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — As crews were working on repairs to the runway at the Kona International Airport, another crack was discovered, according to a Tuesday DOT news release. Repairs on that section were completed Wednesday morning. No commercial flights were affected.

The Kona International Airport in Keāhole is due to reopen Tuesday at 6 a.m. after cracks were found on the runway Monday, The Hawaii Department of Transportation said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The closure prompted delays and cancellations for flights to and from Kona. At the airport, hundreds of people were stranded.

According to the office of Gov. Josh Green, the airport's operations were shut down by the Hawaii Department of Transportation at 4:20 p.m. to assess the cracks on the 11,000-foot runway, the only one at the airport.

"HDOT is measuring the usable runway length and will provide the information to airline operators to determine how to reopen the runway while restricting planes from the damaged areas. HDOT is also working with contractors to mill and resurface the affected area."

The HDOT said it had a project in the works to reconstruct the entire runway but that recent heavy rains caused additional degradation of the pavement. It advised passengers to check with their airline before heading to the airport.

“I’ve been in contact with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and he is working with the FAA to help to solve this problem as quickly as possible,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Tiffany Lee, 43, of Honolulu, described a chaotic scene at the airport with hundreds of people scrambling to rebook flights.

Lee was dropped off on Monday afternoon to catch a Hawaiian Airlines flight home, and said that at her gate area, two Honolulu-bound planes never boarded and a plane bound for California boarded, then deplaned after an hour.

"Hawaiian Airlines was wonderful, they tried to make announcements as frequent as they could but the reality was they needed to wait for updates from the airport," Lee told Spectrum News in a message. "The news reports via social media etc., came through sooner than the airlines did."

She initially tried to find a flight out through Hilo but kept getting kicked out of the booking system on her iPad, due to high traffic, she suspected. She eventually decided to wait in a queue for an agent for a flight out of Kona; there was another, much longer line to book alternate routes out.

"Some people gave up earlier than others," Lee said.

In all, she was at the airport for five hours for reticketing for a flight Tuesday night and was picked up by a relative. She counted herself lucky to have family accommodations on Hawaii Island.

"So many people didn't have anywhere to go," Lee said. "(They) needed transportation and lodging."

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original story was updated with info about repairs to an additional crack that was found on thr runway. (Jan. 17, 2024)