JEDDAH: Flights were delayed, passenger details were lost and both domestic and international flights were thrown into chaos on Wednesday when Saudi Arabian Airlines’ mainframe computer system crashed. This resulted in Saudia processing passengers, freight and cargo manifests manually and causing long delays.

The problem arose, according to a well-placed source who requested anonymity, when the sprinkler system in their Jeddah computer center turned on and soaked the central booking and manifest handling computers. The system was activated when the part of the sprinkler control system was left exposed to the rain after routine maintenance.

The storms that afflicted Jeddah on Wednesday filled the open covers with rain at about 10 a.m. that worked its way into the system controls and turned it on, presumably from an electrical short.

“All the systems and equipment went offline,” said the source. “It affected Saudia worldwide and this meant that flight plans could not be made, reservations for passengers (could not be) verified and because tickets are all e-tickets, nothing at all was working. It all had to be done manually.”

The rainfall had “affected the electrical feeders for the airline’s main centers of information systems in Al-Kandara district,” said a statement from Abdullah Mishbib Al-Ajhar, the carrier’s assistant director-general of public relations. “It had stopped all the automated systems for air-booking, departures and schedules of pilots and navigators. It had also affected air traffic and delayed all domestic flights during the past 24 hours.”

Since the flooding, people have been unable to book Saudia flights online. Attempts to phone Saudia resulted in unanswered calls or busy tones. Trying to use travel agents was no better. All they could tell would-be passengers was that Saudia’s system was down. One determined traveler drove to Jeddah airport to book a flight only to discover 400 other frustrated people ahead of him trying to do the same.

The anonymous source added that Saudia recently relieved, as a cost-saving exercise, many senior employees who were familiar with the manual booking system and knew the procedures.

“None of the current employees know how to do a load check, passenger manifest reconciliation or much of the other procedures,” he said. “We had delays you would not believe.”