By Tom Liddy
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN - United Airlines flights across the country were shut down for about five hours Friday night due to a computer glitch.
The trouble began around 8:15 p.m. when the airline began experiencing a "computer outage interrupting departures, airport processing and reservations," according to the company's Twitter account.
Passengers, including those trying to leave the city, also tweeted about the chaos.
"Today was JFK->SFO [San Francisco]," tweeted @MarkGraham. "Just got home 4 hours late thanks to bad weather and a system-wide breakdown of United's computers. 100s stranded at SFO."
Juergen Schmerder said he was stranded at San Francisco trying to get to Frankfurt, Germany, according to the New York Times.
"I've been waiting in line for seven hours," he said. "It's moving at a speed of one customer every 5 or 10 minutes."
Around 2 a.m., the systems were back on line, the report said.
This morning @jennginnyc tweeted: "sitting at my gate at JFK and the process was smooth. Glad the system was restored."
Still, the company was advising customers to check their flight status Saturday.
