US Customs computer collapse leaves thousands of travelers waiting

An official from Miami International Airport said at least 30 international flights were affected

WASHINGTON DC: A nationwide collapse of the US customs service computer system left thousands of passengers lined up at airports awaiting clearance to officially enter the country, the authorities and US media said on Monday.
"Customs and Border Protection has nationwide outage. Expect delays in passenger processing until the system is restored," Fort Lauderdale's airport, a major hub for the United States and Caribbean, said on Twitter.



A Customs and Border Protection department spokesman told NBC News that there had been a disruption at several airports and was "taking immediate action to address the technology disruption."

After a few hours of trouble, the glitch was fixed. Customs informed on Twitter.

All airports are back on line after a temporary outage of #CBP’s processing systems. No indication the disruption was malicious in nature.

— CBP (@CBP) January 3, 2017

But that was not enough for the thousands of tired and cranky passengers who arrived at US gates but then were lined up, in travel limbo, unable to clear customs.

Customs line at Atlanta airport snaking around multiple wings of building. Supposedly homeland security system down pic.twitter.com/EtSMhWHQgV

— Jordana Lewis (@JordanaLLewis) January 3, 2017

Passport control line at Miami Intl Arprt at standstill & literally 1k+ ppl long. Bad look, @CustomsBorder cc: @MiamiHerald pic.twitter.com/TrT5Hb37g2

— Peter Gartrell (@runptg11) January 2, 2017

An official for Miami International Airport told NBC that passengers on "more than 30 international flights were affected" and one traveler told the same affiliate that two people fainted waiting in line.

Thanks for your patience in nationwide @CustomsBorder outage. https://t.co/a4tvaO4uPD

— Miami Int'l Airport (@iflymia) January 3, 2017

"People are starting to argue and get frustrated," Cali Rez tweeted in Miami. "Get someone down here to explain things and direct the lines ASAP."

Beware of long delays at CBP if your flying into MIA. It's a nightmare, no info from anyone official here not sure what's going on! pic.twitter.com/xh4elDLpWb

— Sam H-T (@TCSSam) January 3, 2017

The affected airports are known to include Miami International, Atlanta Hartsfield, Boston Logan and Fort Lauderdale, officials said.