Customs and Border Protection outage snarls major airports

Travelers flying into the United States on Friday ran into long lines at major airports nationwide because of a temporary computer outage that affected the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.

During the outage, travelers at JFK Airport tweeted to show the enormous lines that had been created by the technical troubles.

In a tweet, JFK Airport and Newark Liberty Airport said that their customs systems were slowly returning to normal, and that they would begin processing their backlog of passengers.

The CBP 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.

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.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.