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Massive computer outage hits Customs department, snarling air traffic nationwide

Hack? Faulty data infrastructure? Authorities are still working to determine the cause of the major outage.

August 16, 2019

As Americans headed abroad this weekend, airports around the country were stymied by a widespread and mysterious computer outage.

The bizarre incident began on Friday afternoon, as computers utilized by US Customs Enforcement crashed nationwide.

The US Customs and Border Protection computer system is down, according to tweets from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Los Angeles International Airport.

JFK said the impact is nationwide, while LAX tweeted the issue affects multiple airports.

The shutdown created incredibly worrisome backups as Customs agents were forced to manually screen passengers.

Here’s a better perspective of the customs line at JFK. People are growing frustrated. Nothing like landing after a 10 hour flight to this. pic.twitter.com/WrEUsoJhbH

— Sarah Baird ? (@Baird_S) August 16, 2019

I was finally able to check in for a flight before actually getting to the airport ?…. & now US Customs systems are down NATION WIDE! Line is crazy & getting crazier. pic.twitter.com/RctYJbEFrF

— Ali Ahmad (@AliAhmad03) August 16, 2019

Scattered reports show that the system is slowly being restored as of 5:30pm EST, but authorities have yet to determine a reason for the outage.

In this article:airport, customs, Featured, JFK

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