>
>had to
>unexpectedly check my rollon, and of course they lost it for 2 days.
>
>Have a good trip,
>
>/jordan
Could be worse:
<http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-lax12aug12,1,2140003.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage>http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-lax12aug12,1,2140003.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
Computer glitch holds up 20,000 at LAX
Passengers are delayed for hours on planes and in terminals after a customs processing system goes down. By Karen Kaplan, Rong-Gong Lin II and Ari B. Bloomekatz Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
August 12, 2007
More than 20,000 international passengers were stranded for hours at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, waiting on airplanes and in packed customs halls while a malfunctioning computer system prevented U.S. officials from processing the travelers' entry into the country.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection system went down around 2 p.m., forcing some planes to sit on the tarmac for so long that workers had to refuel them to keep their power units and air conditioning running. Maintenance workers ran trucks around the airport hooking up tubes to service lavatories.
Just after midnight Saturday, Tom Winfrey, a spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports, said the computer system was up and running. As of 2 a.m., 377 passengers were still being processed. At 3:40 a.m., customs was still processing the last seven people one passenger in a wheelchair and six crew members all from the last flight to arrive early Sunday: Mexicana Airlines Flight 922 from Guadalajara, Mexico.
The last passengers cleared customs at 3:50 a.m. That did not include six travelers detained because of passport or agriculture questions.
"This is probably one of the worst days we've had. I've been with the agency for 30 years and I've never seen the system go down and stay down for as long as it did," said Peter Gordon, acting port director for customs.
The delays also jammed airport parking lots. As of 3 a.m., some lots were still completely gridlocked. The congestion was so bad that at 3:30 a.m., customs spokesman Michael D. Fleming said he opted to stay at the airport rather than try to head home to Irvine.
The computer system maintains a list of people who should be subject to secondary searches upon entering the country, explained Fleming. "The vast majority of people" do not pose a security threat, "but it only takes one," he said. "Obviously a lot of innocent folks have been detained, and it is regrettable."
The malfunction affected only LAX, and customs said it was willing to divert flights to LA/Ontario International Airport, San Diego International Airport/Lindbergh Field or McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Later, Fleming said two flights had been diverted: An Alaska Airlines flight landed in San Diego and a Spirit Airlines flight from Mexico landed at Ontario.
Passengers who are scheduled to depart from LAX today were urged to contact their airlines before going to the airport. [....]