'All the systems literally had a meltdown': Angry British Airways passengers grounded after 'technical glitch'

Angry British Airways passengers have found themselves grounded after what has been described as a 'worldwide technical glitch'.

According to the Daily Mail, the glitch caused serious problems with check-in systems around the world.

Travelers were subsequently hit by long delays, as airport staff were forced to manually processed flight checks-ins.

Some passengers even posted photographs on social media of hand-written boarding passes.

Speaking to ITV from London, Jack Maddox told the news outlet that there were "a lot of agitated people with connecting flights."

"It was at first meant to be a five minute wait but it's now been four hours since their computer systems went down," Maddox said.

"We're not even close to boarding. The plane is sitting fully fuelled and ready to go."

British Airways apologised to its passengers for the delays.

The airline said it was "not a worldwide problem" as some passengers had described it.

According to The Independent, a British Airways spokeswoman confirmed passengers were now being checked in at Heathrow and Gatwick but said the process would be "a bit slower than usual".

When asked exactly what and where the technical problems are, the spokeswoman said: "It is patchy."

The airline has since posted a response to passengers on Twitter.

"We apologise to our customers for the delay and we appreciate their patience as our IT teams work to resolve this issue," they wrote.

"Our colleagues are doing everything possible to check in customers for their journey."

Speaking to the Independent, one passenger described the scene as it unfolded.

"People were lining up, some had already checked in and got through security, but others, when this thing happened, whatever it is, were stuck in the check-in queue," Matthew Walker told the news oulet.

"So they (the staff) have the problem that they didn't know who had already gone through the gate because all the systems literally just had a meltdown, basically."

Another woman, Anna Hewson, told The Telegraph that she had been waiting three hours to pick up her bags in Colorado, USA.

"Please give us our bags!" Hewson begged on social media.

News break – September 6