Incident Summary
The pilot reported that while the airplane was holding short of the runway, he set the parking brake to hold the airplane in place while waiting for takeoff clearance. When clearance was issued, he reached down to the parking brake handle and quickly pushed it back in to disengage it. However, he did not look to confirm that the parking brake was fully released.
Takeoff and Abort
As the pilot began the takeoff roll, he noticed that the airplane's acceleration was insufficient, not exceeding approximately 70 knots. He decided to discontinue the takeoff. During the abort, the airplane veered to the left, departed the departure end of the runway, and collided with an airport perimeter fence.
Pilot's Assessment
The pilot believed that he must not have fully disengaged the parking brake before starting the takeoff. He also indicated that there were no mechanical faults with the airplane that would have interfered with normal operations.
Postaccident Findings
A postaccident examination of the airplane showed that the parking brake handle was partially extended. This condition was determined to have likely caused the decreased acceleration observed during the takeoff roll.