Thousands of travelers at major US airports faced congested terminals and long lines on Friday due to a temporary computer outage that affected the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) processing systems.

Airports warned travelers – Americans returning home and foreign visitors – of delays, and some tweeted photos and videos of huge lines.

#womenintech just arrived in the #USA for networking events and we’re all blocked at #customs pic.twitter.com/HGMvwUJqX3 — Women in Tech (@WomenInTechOrg) August 16, 2019

A CBP spokeswoman said the systems were running again by early evening on the east coast.

The agency didn’t precisely describe the breakdown, but the spokeswoman said there was “no indication of any nefarious activity”. She said officers were able to access security-related databases and maintain security standards while screening people manually.

Rebekah Tromble, an associate professor at George Washington University, tweeted a video clip in which she panned over the arrival hall at Dulles international airport in northern Virginia. She estimated there were at least 5,000 people packed into the hall.



Nationwide outage of US CBP computer systems. Easily 5,000+ passengers in line at Dulles. pic.twitter.com/JGJD95sfFx — Rebekah Tromble (@RebekahKTromble) August 16, 2019

Airports in Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York and elsewhere notified travelers of potential delays at the beginning of one of the last weekends of the summer vacation season.

The port authority that operates New York’s JFK airport and the airport in Newark, New Jersey, said additional staff and police officers monitored situation and helped where needed. Los Angeles international airport said it sent staffers to CBP areas to help direct travelers.

CBP tweeted Friday evening that it was continuing to monitor the incident, and that there was “no indication the disruption was malicious in nature at this time”.