Narrative:

On taxi out; my first officer (first officer) was instructed to contact tower on taxiway F. He either misunderstood or received the wrong tower frequency. We held short of 34R at F1. I looked down to the radio display unit once the parking brake was set; and saw that he had selected 133.30; which is the wrong tower frequency for 34R. He inquired; and was given the correct frequency. When he checked on the correct tower frequency; he was told to hold short; as the controller had already cleared someone for takeoff down field. We waited about 30 seconds; and an air carrier entered the runway at F2; paused; and began his takeoff roll. Immediately at this point; she cleared us for takeoff. I could still read the tail number on his aircraft. My first officer responded on the radio; 'are you sure about that?' I believe he thought she had meant to say 'line up and wait' and was trying to give her a chance to correct herself. She replied that she did indeed say 'cleared for takeoff'. My first officer then responded a bit unprofessionally and I said to him we would just pause until the preceding aircraft was airborne. On initial climb; we were told to contact the tower upon landing.I think that my first officer's intention was safety; and trying to clarify the clearance. The aircraft ahead still continued his takeoff roll for approximately 45 seconds. It only takes about 15 seconds for our airplane to begin the takeoff roll from holding short. If at anytime during that span he had rejected; untold lives would have been lost. The tower supervisor assured me that all separation was met; even though to me; it seemed like a terrible idea. We held in position until I was confident that the air carrier was not going to abort. I think we; or the tower; should have made that communication clear that we were going to do that. While we hadn't used standard phraseology; I think that we were just flabbergasted and caught off guard that we would be cleared for takeoff with another aircraft just in front of us.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew describes being cleared for takeoff as soon as a previous departure was cleared for takeoff. Pilot waited until aircraft was safely airborne then started the takeoff roll.

Narrative: On taxi out; my First Officer (FO) was instructed to contact tower on taxiway F. He either misunderstood or received the wrong tower frequency. We held short of 34R at F1. I looked down to the radio display unit once the parking brake was set; and saw that he had selected 133.30; which is the wrong tower frequency for 34R. He inquired; and was given the correct frequency. When he checked on the correct tower frequency; he was told to hold short; as the controller had already cleared someone for takeoff down field. We waited about 30 seconds; and an air carrier entered the runway at F2; paused; and began his takeoff roll. Immediately at this point; she cleared us for takeoff. I could still read the tail number on his aircraft. My FO responded on the radio; 'Are you sure about that?' I believe he thought she had meant to say 'Line up and wait' and was trying to give her a chance to correct herself. She replied that she did indeed say 'Cleared for takeoff'. My FO then responded a bit unprofessionally and I said to him we would just pause until the preceding aircraft was airborne. On initial climb; we were told to contact the tower upon landing.I think that my FO's intention was safety; and trying to clarify the clearance. The aircraft ahead still continued his takeoff roll for approximately 45 seconds. It only takes about 15 seconds for our airplane to begin the takeoff roll from holding short. If at anytime during that span he had rejected; untold lives would have been lost. The tower supervisor assured me that all separation was met; even though to me; it seemed like a terrible idea. We held in position until I was confident that the air carrier was not going to abort. I think we; or the tower; should have made that communication clear that we were going to do that. While we hadn't used standard phraseology; I think that we were just flabbergasted and caught off guard that we would be cleared for takeoff with another aircraft just in front of us.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.