B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 56; Flight Crew Total 13297; Flight Crew Type 3928
Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Manuals; Procedure
Enroute ZZZ-ZZZ1; the five point connector popped out of place and could not be twisted to allow the seat belt to be removed. This essentially trapped the Captain in his seat if the seat belt continued to be used. We had never; in XX+ years of aviation; heard of this failure. Last time I had experienced this was in a dunk tank in Navy flight school; where I technically 'drowned.' I did connect the waist belt through the shoulder harness connect points; where the quick release actually worked; so I was able to rig a partial system. There is no information on what to do in this situation; nor after a consult with the Chief Pilot was there any company support. If this is a more common occurrence than I am aware; some information should be disseminated to the pilots. But in all likelihood if not; the Chief Pilot; Maintenance; and other resources in headquarters should be able to get together in an expeditious fashion and at least come up with some ideas in the last 90 minutes of a flight. Either way; the actions resulted in SOP violations and use of emergency authority to circumvent the procedures using the Captain's judgement of least risk in the situation.
Captain reported his five point harness system malfunctioned; trapping him in his seat.