Computer Network at Incheon International Airport Went Haywire

The immigration search-networking system of the Incheon International Airport got haywire for about an hour on Thursday morning, causing huge inconveniences to the immigration officers and travelers.

According to the authorities, from 8:25 a.m. to 9:40 a.m., the computer system located at the central computer lab in the airport got stalled due to the problem with the AICC that powers all the communications systems.

The failure stopped the immigration searching system for 75 minutes. In the past, similar problems had stalled the system only for about ten minutes over 2-3 occasions. This time, however, it lasted more than an hour for the first time ever since the opening of the airport.

As a result, all the computers installed at the customs area stopped working. In response, the immigration officers randomly selected 20-30% of the arriving and departing travelers, and referred their records via facsimile to other immigration offices in Mok Dong and Kimhae Airport.

For those who were not examined due to the flight schedules, their names and passport numbers were written down manually.

The manual immigration processing during the peak time caused great inconveniences to those who planned to depart, having them stand in lines that reached more than 200m in length.

Due to the computer error, about 5,000 people are believed to have left the country without proper inspection.

One officer in charge of the airport security said, "Under the normal circumstances, officers could pick out through the networking system those who are wanted by authorities or are prohibited from leaving the country. The glitch rendered us unable to check all of the travelers. We checked only 20% of them. It is a big problem in terms of security."

The airport officer in charge of the communications systems said, "We will augment the systems with a contingency power plan. In the future, a blackout would not shut down the whole systems."

Hee-Jae Park min07@donga.com