Computer glitch caused delays at U.S. airports

NEW YORK, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A glitch in the Department of Homeland Security's air travel computer system led to outages at several U.S. airports late Wednesday, causing delays, long traveler lines and problems for people trying to enter the United States, government officials said.

CBS New York reported, a federal law enforcement official said the problem arose in a customs computer system used to check passenger names against the federal terror watch list.

Officials confirmed at 8:22 p.m. EDT the system was experiencing problems, NBC News reported. About 45 minutes later, a senior government official told NBC News the system was back online.

The delays were also reported by travelers at New York's JFK International Airport and other airports in cities nationwide -- including those in Los Angeles, Dallas, Charlotte and Boston.

"For an hour and a half, all the computers went down. It was all backed up. No one could come into the country," passenger Louis Maharam, who was stuck in Miami upon returning from Barbados, told the New York Daily News. "The people working said it's never happened before and no one can understand it.

"All of the sudden all of the global entry kiosks, immigration kiosks, computers at the immigration person's stations all went blank," he added. "Can you imagine the panic? Everybody missing flights?"

"Wow Emirates [Airlines] check in line at JFK is huge! I hope we make our flight," tweeted one passenger.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the glitch occurred in computers belonging to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBS New York reported.

CBP officials said the problem occurred with computers and kiosks used by passengers arriving in the United States at airports nationwide.