By Xinhua
Los Angeles : Thousands of passengers were stranded at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) following a technical snag in one of the computers of US Customs and Border Protection.
The machine went down at about 2 p.m. Saturday, causing some overseas flights to be diverted, airport officials said.
The system contains the names of arriving passengers and law enforcement data about them, including arrest warrants, said Los Angeles airport spokesman Paul Haney.
“That system allows our officers to make decisions on who we can allow to enter the US,” said Mike Fleming, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman. “You just don’t know by looking at them.”
All aircraft were parked at locations where they were connected to ground power and passengers had access to food, water and toilet services, said airport officials. But because of the backlog, some passengers became ill.
Customs officials resumed processing arriving passengers and the computers were online again at 9.15 p.m., airport officials said.
But it was not known how long it would take to clear the backlog of arriving international passengers.