Computer failure strands thousands at LAX

[KeithMEL]

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/08/12...tml#cnnSTCText

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Weary international passengers were stuck at Los Angeles International Airport for several hours, after a computer failure prevented customs officials from screening arrivals.

Salvador Geurrero waits for his wife to exit customs at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday.

More than 20,000 international passengers, both Americans and foreigners, sat in four airport terminals and in 60 planes starting about 2 p.m. on Saturday, when the computer system broke down, said Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Paul Haney.

...

[Singapore_Air]

Views from SQ038's Pax

I arrived from Singapore on flight 38, landing on time ae 5:30 pm. It's now 11:30 pm and I'm still on the plane with NO ETA. Passengers are exhausted and frustrated with the information blackout. The crew has been as gracious as possible, but they're as "in the dark" as we are. Communication is critical when catastrophic system failures occur. Who will reimburse us for the costs and consequences?

-- Lori of Pasadena, 11:35 PM

I'm on Singapore Airlines flight 38 non-stop from Singapore to LAX. We touched down at LAX at 5:30 pm after a 16 and a half hour flight, and we are still waiting to deplane at 11:15 pm. We have received repeated advices over the last 5 and a half hours that we were within 30 to 60 minutes of deplaning, which never came true. The situation on the plane is stable, but passengers are getting very tired and cranky. Flight crews have stopped giving any predictions as to when we can deane. The LA airport authorities have not been forthright in giving passengers truthful information.

-- Jim of Mission Viejo, 11:18 PM

The message you have entered is too short.

[jjpb3]

Poor passengers.

A similar -- but fortunately for me, less spectacular -- computer failure led to my episode of immigration purgatory at ORD.

[jhm]

Poor passengers.

... and cabin crew! I can imagine they've been working all this time trying to make pax as comfortable as can be and dealing with the no doubt increasingly anxious questions which are being asked.

[up and away]

Why can't they simply control the passports, make lists of the passengers& than let them go?

[TerryK]

Why can't they simply control the passports, make lists of the passengers& than let them go?

Some of them will never to be seen again!

[MovieMan]

Why can't they simply control the passports, make lists of the passengers& than let them go?

It's not that they couldn't keep track of who was entering the country, it's that they needed to compare names/passport numbers of arriving passengers against their lists of people they don't want entering the country in the first place... The computers with those lists were the ones that were down.

What an unpleasant experience for passengers and crews...

[QSG]

It's not that they couldn't keep track of who was entering the country, it's that they needed to compare names/passport numbers of arriving passengers against their lists of people they don't want entering the country in the first place... The computers with those lists were the ones that were down.

What an unpleasant experience for passengers and crews...

But aren't all USA bound travelers names put against those lists before the flight takes-off from the origin?

[MovieMan]

But aren't all USA bound travelers names put against those lists before the flight takes-off from the origin?

I think so, but I assume that process doesn't flag everyone who could potentially be denied entry. Whether arriving passengers are allowed into the country is up to the US immigration officer to decide, partly based on the information on the computers.

From the same story Keith quoted above:

A major switch in the system, which contains names of arriving passengers and law enforcement data about them, including arrest warrants, had failed and had to be replaced, said Mike Fleming, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman.

"That system allows our officers to make decisions on who we can allow to enter the United States," Fleming said. "You just don't know by looking at them."

How US immigration works is a mystery, anyway.

[up and away]

How US immigration works is a mystery, anyway

It's not a mystery, it's a lottery

[JetE]

I think so, but I assume that process doesn't flag everyone who could potentially be denied entry. Whether arriving passengers are allowed into the country is up to the US immigration officer to decide, partly based on the information on the computers.

Yes, entry to the U.S. appears to be subject to the final decision made by the immigration officer at the point of entry based on the information on the travel documents (passport, visa etc.) some of which would have been transmitted by the carrier beforehand.

Tough situation for the unfortunate passengers.

[The High Flyer]

Tough situation for the unfortunate passengers.

Agreed. My teammate had the unfortunate experience of helping a fellow passenger she met on the plane at Customs because that lady couldn't speak English. One can only imagine the kind of interrogation that had transpired during the session. To US Customs, non-English-speaking aliens almost equate to terrorists.

In another occassion, my teammate's former supervisor, a well-educated English-speaking female professor, who is Singaporean Chinese, was stripped-searched. God knows what Customs must have been thinking. And what could the helpless woman do? Nothing but break down!