It wasn’t but a few weeks ago that Atlanta’s international airport was crippled by a mysterious fire in the basement that had passengers stranded in the dark and on the runway.
It took half a day to get everything back online again, but not before thousands of flights around the country were canceled, delayed or redirected.
And now Miami is added to the list of airports that have recently broadcast to terrorists how easy it is to bring American flights to their knees.
Miami’s international airport had thousands of passengers stuck in lines this week after computers went offline for no apparent reason.
One might have thought after 9-11 that simple issues like computers, electricity, and security would’ve been figured out.
And one would be wrong.
Here’s more from CBS…
It’s a rough night for international travelers at Miami International Airport.
Approximately 2,000 passengers are in line at customs at MIA due to an apparent computer outage impacting systems used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at passport control.
The outage is affecting other airports across the county, according to an official familiar with the situation.
Travelers in Miami say it was a mass of people and a mess.
Jennifer Martin stood in line for hours. She was frustrated.
“The kiosk machines shut down,” Martin said. “So we couldn’t get our passport pictures down, so they cattled us to this line, then they opened up the line after we been standing in it for an hour and let the people who just got off a flight in front of us in customs.”
Other passengers experienced similar problems.
“The machines for customs and border patrol aren’t working, so all the things are printing out with X’s on them and everyone’s freaking out, so the lines about an hour to get thru,” said Brittany Jason.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released a statement saying, in part, “U.S. Customs and Border Protection experienced a temporary outage with its processing systems at various airports today beginning at 7:30 pm and ending approximately 9:30 pm. All airports are currently back on line.”
