An MD80 flight crew discovered the seatbelt sign was off after a takeoff from ord.

Attributes
ACN	446480
Time
Date	199908
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ord.airport
State Reference	IL
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : ord.tower
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Super 80
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	climbout : initial
Route In Use	departure : on vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
ASRS Report	446480
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far non adherence : company policies non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted none taken : detected after the fact
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Location: ord. After leaving the gate, our flight got caught in a massive delay. We spent over 2 hours in a very slowly moving line of aircraft waiting to take off. Numerous times during the delay when the brakes were parked we turned the seatbelt sign off to permit people to use the lavatories and then back on before movement. Very shortly after takeoff we noticed that the seatbelt was off. We might have avoided this by going back to the 5 mins prior portion of the before starting engines checklist.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD80 FLC DISCOVERED THE SEATBELT SIGN WAS OFF AFTER A TKOF FROM ORD.

Narrative: LOCATION: ORD. AFTER LEAVING THE GATE, OUR FLT GOT CAUGHT IN A MASSIVE DELAY. WE SPENT OVER 2 HRS IN A VERY SLOWLY MOVING LINE OF ACFT WAITING TO TAKE OFF. NUMEROUS TIMES DURING THE DELAY WHEN THE BRAKES WERE PARKED WE TURNED THE SEATBELT SIGN OFF TO PERMIT PEOPLE TO USE THE LAVATORIES AND THEN BACK ON BEFORE MOVEMENT. VERY SHORTLY AFTER TKOF WE NOTICED THAT THE SEATBELT WAS OFF. WE MIGHT HAVE AVOIDED THIS BY GOING BACK TO THE 5 MINS PRIOR PORTION OF THE BEFORE STARTING ENGS CHKLIST.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.