Narrative:

On taxi out from the air carrier ramp; the captain elected to single-engine taxi for fuel conservation. The primary runway was closed and we needed to use runway 31 for departure. This entailed crossing 2 runways; one of which had a light aircraft on it that we were to pass behind. It was a short taxi from the gate to the runway and I was inundated with checklists; briefings and the multiple runway crossings. I called the tower and advised we were ready for takeoff. We were cleared for takeoff and the captain ordered me to perform the takeoff checklist. When I looked at the overhead panel; I realized the fuel pumps were off indicating the second engine had not been started. I advised the captain that the engine was not started. We had already taxied over the hold short line; so I advised the tower we needed to clear the runway and taxi back to the approach end. After engine start; we reran all the appropriate checklists and departed without incident. It is worth noting that the aircraft could not have taken off with one engine shut down since the thrust lever was in the shutoff/locked position. A fadec controlled engine like those installed on embraer aircraft would not have such a safeguard. We were not more than a few feet over the hold short line when I made the captain aware of the situation and we never initiated the takeoff sequence. My airline is rolling out updated checklists and procedures next month to relieve the crew of so many checks and duties while on the taxi out. I knew this might happen at some point in my career because there is no checklist item that confirms that all engines are started prior to takeoff.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 FO reported taking the runway for takeoff and realizing they had not started the second engine.

Narrative: On taxi out from the air carrier ramp; the captain elected to single-engine taxi for fuel conservation. The primary runway was closed and we needed to use runway 31 for departure. This entailed crossing 2 runways; one of which had a light aircraft on it that we were to pass behind. It was a short taxi from the gate to the runway and I was inundated with checklists; briefings and the multiple runway crossings. I called the tower and advised we were ready for takeoff. We were cleared for takeoff and the captain ordered me to perform the takeoff checklist. When I looked at the overhead panel; I realized the fuel pumps were off indicating the second engine had not been started. I advised the captain that the engine was not started. We had already taxied over the hold short line; so I advised the tower we needed to clear the runway and taxi back to the approach end. After engine start; we reran all the appropriate checklists and departed without incident. It is worth noting that the aircraft could not have taken off with one engine shut down since the thrust lever was in the shutoff/locked position. A FADEC controlled engine like those installed on Embraer aircraft would not have such a safeguard. We were not more than a few feet over the hold short line when I made the captain aware of the situation and we never initiated the takeoff sequence. My airline is rolling out updated checklists and procedures next month to relieve the crew of so many checks and duties while on the taxi out. I knew this might happen at some point in my career because there is no checklist item that confirms that all engines are started prior to takeoff.

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.