Narrative:

We were cleared for takeoff on runway 24L. During the takeoff roll just above 80 knots the runway status lights turned red. We had a very brief back and forth before the lights went out. I am guessing approximately two seconds. We continued the takeoff. I was immediately focused on the runway in front of us which looked clear. Sometime after that we heard the other carrier come on the radio and state that they were past the hold line. The tower responded; and I again focused on making sure the runway was clear. We climbed out without incident. Once we landed at our destination the crew contacted the chief pilot on call; and our ATC liaison.I am not sure how to keep it from happening again as it appeared to be human error. We as a crew had a very long discussion about the event and how we could have been better and what we did right. I felt like our communication in the cockpit was good. We were working well together and passing information throughout the entire incident. After talking to our ATC specialist; I learned a few things about the runway status lights that I didn't know before. The runway status lights will go out even with an aircraft past the hold line. I was also told ATC could override the lights; but they didn't in this case. When the other carrier stopped; the lights went out. I was confused by the short nature of the lights on then off. We also learned that the tower was well aware of and agreed with our decision to continue. I have to commend the other carrier crew for announcing they were past the hold line because that communication was important.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported seeing red runway status lights above 80 knots during the takeoff roll that quickly extinguished. The runway appeared to be clear and the takeoff was continued. Another air carrier crew then announced they have crossed the hold line; but had stopped short of the runway.

Narrative: We were cleared for takeoff on Runway 24L. During the takeoff roll just above 80 knots the Runway Status Lights turned red. We had a very brief back and forth before the lights went out. I am guessing approximately two seconds. We continued the takeoff. I was immediately focused on the runway in front of us which looked clear. Sometime after that we heard the other carrier come on the radio and state that they were past the hold line. The Tower responded; and I again focused on making sure the runway was clear. We climbed out without incident. Once we landed at our destination the Crew contacted the Chief Pilot on Call; and our ATC liaison.I am not sure how to keep it from happening again as it appeared to be human error. We as a Crew had a very long discussion about the event and how we could have been better and what we did right. I felt like our communication in the cockpit was good. We were working well together and passing information throughout the entire incident. After talking to our ATC Specialist; I learned a few things about the runway status lights that I didn't know before. The runway status lights will go out even with an aircraft past the hold line. I was also told ATC could override the lights; but they didn't in this case. When the other carrier stopped; the lights went out. I was confused by the short nature of the lights on then off. We also learned that the Tower was well aware of and agreed with our decision to continue. I have to commend the other carrier Crew for announcing they were past the hold line because that communication was important.

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.