This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
On Friday, August 16, 2019, a nationwide failure of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's computer system caused chaos at airports across the country, leaving passengers waiting for hours to be processed.
The system failure, which began around 4:30 p.m., affected self-service kiosks and customs officers were forced to process passengers manually, one by one.
Passengers from coast to coast took to social media to express their frustration and worry about missing connecting flights. Some reported waiting in lines for up to three hours, while others described the scene as 'hectic' and 'like a third world country.'
According to Gordon Loesch, a reporter and anchor at WPXI in Pittsburgh, passengers were getting concerned about missing connections and booking rooms for the night.
At the international arrivals area of Terminal 8 at Kennedy Airport, travelers described a chaotic scene, with waits of up to three hours and lines that curled around each other.
One passenger, Max Ludlow, who flew in from London, described the scene as 'no organization,' with people cutting in line and becoming angry.
However, some passengers were able to navigate the system more quickly, thanks to the mobile application that allows travelers to swiftly pass through customs.
One such passenger, Connie Concetto, who arrived from Antigua, said that custom agents were sympathetic and provided water bottles to the crowd.
Despite the challenges, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on Twitter that there was no indication that the failure was 'malicious in nature.'
