B757-200
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Fatigue; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew FLC complied w / Automation / Advisory; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff
Human Factors; Weather
Cleared for takeoff.  Advanced thrust levers to 1.1 EPR and attempted to select Thrust tile to advance the auto throttles.  Attempt failed so reselected Thrust tile and ensured Autothrottle Arm Switch was armed.  Auto throttles still would not engage so advanced thrust to clear the runway.  At that point the Takeoff Warning activated.  Informed Tower we needed to clear the runway.  Tower asked the reason for rejecting the takeoff and we told them we had an Autothrottle issue.  As we taxied down the runway we realized we were not configured for takeoff. Configured the aircraft for takeoff and departed. Intended to configure aircraft established on long parallel taxiway due to low visibility (Atis reporting 1/4 mile) and traffic congestion.  Normally I configure the aircraft prior to crossing the west runway and then do the Before TO checklist after crossing.  Both my FO and I were extremely tired.  I was on my 8th consecutive day and he jump seated in that evening.  We were 1 hour late due to the low visibility and rain. Staying in your normal habit patterns and being more diligent when that habit pattern is broken; especially when operating with the level of fatigue we experienced.
The flight departed the gate approximately 58 minutes late. We made the long taxi in low vis conditions; so our attention was primarily oriented towards runway incursion awareness and deconfliction with other aircraft. We ran the 'The Before Takeoff Checklist' (below the line) before we took the runway to Takeoff. When cleared for takeoff and lined up on centerline; the Captain gave aircraft control to me. I asked for 'standard power' and the Captain was unable to get the auto throttles to engage. We then knew we needed to clear the runway and figure out the problem. As the thrust levers were advanced we heard the 'config warning'. We informed the tower we needed to taxi clear because of an auto throttle issue. We were cleared to exit the runway and told to rejoin taxiway M and hold short of taxiway M1. We did not exceed taxi speed during the entire runway event. After we cleared the runway; we were able to put the 'pieces together' and figured out that the problem was that we forgot to configure the airplane and run the first half of the 'Before Takeoff' checklist (Before the Line) and not an auto throttle issue. We then configured the aircraft via the normal flows; ran the entire 'Before Takeoff' checklist and informed tower that we were once again ready for takeoff. The flight then proceeded normally. We delayed configuring the aircraft because of the weather and traffic load. It had been a long night; we were tired; and forgot to configure the aircraft and run the first half of the 'Before Takeoff' checklist. If the conditions allow; configure the airplane for takeoff as early as possible. Continually stay ahead of the aircraft and think about what needs to happen next in the flight. Work as a crew to catch errors.
B757 flight crew reports forgetting to set the flaps to takeoff prior to taking the runway; due to a long taxi in low visibility and fatigue. Autothrust will not engage on the runway and when thrust is pushed up to taxi clear the takeoff warning sounds.