Narrative:

We were taxing out to the runway and the cockpit said to us 'flight attendants prepare for takeoff'. The safety video had not ended and we had not gone out to do our cabin safety checks. I called the purser and told him to call the cockpit and tell them that we had not done our cabin safety checks. I went out into the aisle to do my checks. As I worked my way back there was a man with a large briefcase on his lap. I repeatedly told him to stow his briefcase. Just then I hear the engines rev and we started to roll down the runway. I was still standing in the aisle. I ran back to my jumpseat and barely got to sit down and put my seatbelt and shoulder harness on before we lifted off. I waited till 18;000 ft and then called the purser. I asked him 'did you call the cockpit and tell them that we were in the aisle doing our cabin safety checks'. He said 'yes and they said we got to go; we got to go'. I then waited until the seatbelt sign went off and the cockpit finished their announcement to the passengers and called them. The first officer answered. I asked him: did the purser call you and tell you that we were in the aisle doing our cabin safety checks because I was still in the aisle when you took off'. He said to me 'the purser said give me two seconds. We were on the runway and if we would have pulled off then we would have had to wait 30 minutes'. I again told him 'well I was still in the aisle when you guys took off. Thank you I just needed to check what had happened.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320 crew took off with a flight attendant in the aisle performing the cabin safety check.

Narrative: We were taxing out to the runway and the cockpit said to us 'flight attendants prepare for takeoff'. The safety video had not ended and we had not gone out to do our cabin safety checks. I called the Purser and told him to call the cockpit and tell them that we had not done our cabin safety checks. I went out into the aisle to do my checks. As I worked my way back there was a man with a large briefcase on his lap. I repeatedly told him to stow his briefcase. Just then I hear the engines rev and we started to roll down the runway. I was still standing in the aisle. I ran back to my jumpseat and barely got to sit down and put my seatbelt and shoulder harness on before we lifted off. I waited till 18;000 FT and then called the Purser. I asked him 'Did you call the cockpit and tell them that we were in the aisle doing our cabin safety checks'. He said 'Yes and they said we got to go; we got to go'. I then waited until the seatbelt sign went off and the cockpit finished their announcement to the passengers and called them. The First Officer answered. I asked him: Did the Purser call you and tell you that we were in the aisle doing our cabin safety checks because I was still in the aisle when you took off'. He said to me 'The Purser said give me two seconds. We were on the runway and if we would have pulled off then we would have had to wait 30 minutes'. I again told him 'Well I was still in the aisle when you guys took off. Thank you I just needed to check what had happened.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.