NEW YORK, USA (REUTERS) - Customers arriving at JFK's Terminal 7 on Sunday (May 29) were expecting to see long lines, because of the holiday weekend and a shortage of staff at TSA screening stations.

But the mess that they found was like nothing they'd ever seen.

"I've travelled everywhere, and I've never seen anything like this before. Never," said one passenger.

"It's been pretty packed. And pretty cramped and pretty unsafe at times. Apparently there's been a complete failure of the computer system so they're having to process all the customers manually" said passenger Mike Priestley.

Because of the computer crash, airlines including British Airways, Iberia, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific had to write out all boarding passes and baggage claim tickets by hand.

British Airways operates the terminal, and says the problem is now fixed.

No word on how many of the stranded passengers have been able to reach their destinations.