Porosity and solidification cracking in joining of thick sections are very common issues in deep penetration keyhole laser-arc hybrid welding (LAHW). In the present work, 45 mm thick high strength steel was joined by a double-sided technique. With combined use of fast welding speeds and larger air gap between plates, higher amount of porosity was found because of the dynamic behavior of the keyhole walls. Solidification cracking formed at the centerline in the bottom of the weld due to high-depth-to-width geometrical ratio. Numerical simulations have been performed and showed very high cooling rate and stresses occurred in the root of the deep welds, which corresponds with higher cracking tendency.