Midnight Mike
2007-08-12, 10:49 AM
Glitch causes 6-hour delays at LAX
Aug 11, 2007
LOS ANGELES - About 6,000 international passengers were stranded for as long as six hours Saturday at Los Angeles International Airport because a computer failure prevented them from passing through customs, authorities said.
The passengers were stranded in four airport terminals and in 24 planes starting at about 1:30 p.m. because of a breakdown in the computer system. The system contains the names of arriving passengers and law enforcement data about them, including arrest warrants, said Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Paul Haney.
“That system allows our officers to make decisions on who we can allow to enter the United States,” said Mike Fleming, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman. “You just don’t know by looking at them.”
Cause not known
The cause of the shutdown was not known, and there was no estimate on when the system would be repaired, Fleming said.
Authorities had begun using a backup system by 7:45 p.m. and were processing passengers in order of their arrival.
However, the system could only support half of the inspection booths normally used by customs officers, Fleming said.
Customs officials were working to divert incoming flights to airports in Ontario, Calif., and Las Vegas, Fleming said.
Terminals that normally accept international passengers have been full since at least 2:30 p.m., and passengers arriving since then have had to remain on the runway.
“This is just unbearable,” said Gaynelle Jones, 57, who landed on a 13-hour flight from Hong Kong at about 2:15 p.m. and was still sitting on her plane five hours later. She said she had missed her connecting flight to Houston.
“We’ve already been on a plane for several hours, and they have no timeframe for when we’ll be able to get off,” Jones told The Associated Press from her cell phone.
Aug 11, 2007
LOS ANGELES - About 6,000 international passengers were stranded for as long as six hours Saturday at Los Angeles International Airport because a computer failure prevented them from passing through customs, authorities said.
The passengers were stranded in four airport terminals and in 24 planes starting at about 1:30 p.m. because of a breakdown in the computer system. The system contains the names of arriving passengers and law enforcement data about them, including arrest warrants, said Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Paul Haney.
“That system allows our officers to make decisions on who we can allow to enter the United States,” said Mike Fleming, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman. “You just don’t know by looking at them.”
Cause not known
The cause of the shutdown was not known, and there was no estimate on when the system would be repaired, Fleming said.
Authorities had begun using a backup system by 7:45 p.m. and were processing passengers in order of their arrival.
However, the system could only support half of the inspection booths normally used by customs officers, Fleming said.
Customs officials were working to divert incoming flights to airports in Ontario, Calif., and Las Vegas, Fleming said.
Terminals that normally accept international passengers have been full since at least 2:30 p.m., and passengers arriving since then have had to remain on the runway.
“This is just unbearable,” said Gaynelle Jones, 57, who landed on a 13-hour flight from Hong Kong at about 2:15 p.m. and was still sitting on her plane five hours later. She said she had missed her connecting flight to Houston.
“We’ve already been on a plane for several hours, and they have no timeframe for when we’ll be able to get off,” Jones told The Associated Press from her cell phone.