The Transportation Security Administration said an unprecedented server error prevented them from checking more than 3,000 bags, leaving many travelers to arrive at their destinations without their luggage.
The TSA at Denver International Airport didn’t experience the same glitch on Thursday, but that doesn’t matter if you were on one of the many flights from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport to arrive in Denver without a bag.
“Not real happy that they didn’t have anything working,” said Jan Whitley.
Whitley checked her bag in Phoenix hoping that it would arrive with her in Denver, but it never did.
“There was a lot of confusion in Phoenix,” said Whitley.
Whitley’s bag was one of the thousands stranded in a hot parking lot at Phoenix’s airport.
This. @abc15 @PHXSkyHarbor pic.twitter.com/ulSiGKK2bU
— Ray Telles (@RayTellesABC15) May 12, 2016
Those bags will now be driven to San Diego, Los Angeles or Las Vegas where they will be screened and then sent to their owners.
The TSA also brought in additional K-9 units to alleviate some of the backup.
Officials told people not to check their bags if they could help it, and that’s exactly what Kari Osborne did.
“They said I could try to check it at the gate so I had to lose my hairspray. And my shampoo is gone, too,” said Osborne.
Osborne travels a lot for business and couldn’t be without her bag.
“I was kind of anxious because I had to dump some things, but I needed my bag for the next morning, and I couldn’t risk not getting my bag because they couldn’t really guarantee when we would get our bags,” said Osborne.
People arriving in Denver said they checked their bags in Phoenix not knowing if they would show up at baggage claim once they landed, and if their bag doesn’t show up, they said they haven’t been told when to expect their luggage.
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