OCgringo Posted August 13, 2007 Report Share Posted August 13, 2007 And these guys are the front line to "protect us" http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-070812lax-story,1,6945644.story More than 20,000 international passengers were stranded for hours at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, waiting on airplanes and in packed customs halls while a malfunctioning computer system prevented U.S. officials from processing the travelers' entry into the country. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection system went down around 2 p.m., forcing some planes to sit on the tarmac for so long that workers had to refuel them to keep their power units and air conditioning running. Maintenance workers ran trucks around the airport hooking up tubes to service lavatories. Just after midnight Saturday, Tom Winfrey, a spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports, said the computer system was up and running. As of 2 a.m., 377 passengers were still being processed. At 3:40 a.m., customs was still processing the last seven people â?? one passenger in a wheelchair and six crew members â?? all from the last flight to arrive early Sunday: Mexicana Airlines Flight 922 from Guadalajara, Mexico. more at link OC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted August 13, 2007 Report Share Posted August 13, 2007 Fly the "friendly skies"....NOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted August 13, 2007 Report Share Posted August 13, 2007 [color:red]"By the time water arrived, children and elderly passengers were lying on the floor showing signs of dehydration. Water fountains were not accessible due to renovations in the terminal, and the only air conditioning was provided by three industrial fans with limited range, he said. Three people were transported to local hospitals after they fell ill from waiting so long in the terminals, according to the Los Angeles City Fire Dept."[/color] And people talk about Bangkok's airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCgringo Posted August 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2007 I am glad I was not on these flights , because I would be calling every TV station in the area, Maybe some people did but since it was Saturday the TV stations are on a limited staff, This is outragous , but of course we did it for " national security" which gives our government powers to fuck over whoever they want..... Sad day for Los Angeles , I am sure all those tourists will tell their friends at home to avoid LAX. OC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted August 13, 2007 Report Share Posted August 13, 2007 hope all is ok for my upcoming trip in november. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted August 14, 2007 Report Share Posted August 14, 2007 I dread going to LAX or even thru it...I always avoid the place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom Michael Posted August 14, 2007 Report Share Posted August 14, 2007 Me also - I really hate that Int'l terminal - will schedule my trip to ensure that I don't need to fly out of LAX. SFO is better, and CHI even easier than LAX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted August 14, 2007 Report Share Posted August 14, 2007 ... but Asian flights out of LAX are usually the cheapest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 Some of those poor fuckers had to sit in their planes without water for over 8 hours. Probably those who complain will be put on the no-fly list as enemies of the State. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dali Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 I was one of those 'poor fuckers' sitting on a plane for about 7 hours waiting to get back into the US. We did however have water and juice available, though that was about it. The worst part was there was very little communication about our status. We were told the delay was due to an Immigration and Customs computer failure, but we didn't know whether they were telling us the truth or if there had been a terrorist event or what. When we landed and taxied to our gate, the pilot said we would have to wait 5 - 10 minutes for the plane at our gate to exit, with no reason given. 30 minutes later he said it could be another half hour, again with no reason given. 30 minutes after that the plane taxied to a remote area of the airport and pulled up to an unmarked gate, and still no explanation. Everyone on the plane got ready to exit as normal, including the flight attendents who also had no idea what was happening. The door opens and a large official looking man walks onto the plane and asks everyone to go back to their seat and sit down. He then says Immigration is experiencing a computer failure, some passengers have been held 4 hours on busses awaiting processing by INS, we would have to wait on the plane, and he had no idea how long. For the next 6 hours we weren't told much more. And this was after flying about 20 hours from BKK. Amazingly most of the people on the flight stayed very calm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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