NEARLY 1,000 ALASKA AIRLINES PASSENGERS DELAYED AT LAX

Aug. 14, 2007

Nearly 1,000 Alaska Airlines passengers flying from Mexico to Los Angeles were prevented from leaving their planes Saturday because of a government computer problem, the carrier reported.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection computer had a glitch at the Southern California airport, affecting all international flights arriving after 1:30 p.m. It delayed seven Alaska flights, some for at least five hours.

The problem prevented passengers from going through customs and affected Flight Nos. 207, 283, 291, 277, 211, 289 and 231, the Seattle-based company said late Saturday night.

Those flights, which had a total of 976 people, landed at Los Angeles International Airport between 4:30 p.m. and about 8 p.m.

Customs officials permitted passengers on Flight Nos. 207 and 283 to enter the airport at 9:50 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., respectively.

As of early Sunday morning, Alaska's delayed flights had cleared the airport, with passengers from Flight No. 231 the last to go through customs, said Amanda Tobin Bielawski, a company spokeswoman.

"Passengers were fairly understanding of the delay," she said.

Alaska staff cleaned aircraft toilets and served food and drinks to the passengers while they waited. Staff also delivered diapers, baby formula, pillows and blankets to passengers.

Airport officials permitted Flight No. 225, which was scheduled to fly from Cancun to Los Angeles, to land in San Diego. After passengers went through customs at that airport, they flew to Los Angeles and landed around 11:10 p.m.

Two of the delayed flights, Nos. 207 and 291, flew from Los Angeles to Sea-Tac Airport. The carrier is helping passengers reschedule missed flights.

P-I reporter Brad Wong

can be reached at 206-448-8137

or [email protected]