El Monte-San Gabriel Valley

The pilot reported that, while holding short of the runway, he set the parking brake while waiting for his takeoff clearance. Upon receiving takeoff clearance, he reached down to the parking brake handle and, "quickly pushed the parking brakes back in"; however, he did not visually verify that he disengaged the parking brake. During the takeoff roll, he noticed that the airplane was not accelerating beyond about 70 knots and decided to abort the takeoff. The airplane subsequently veered to the left, exited the departure end of the runway, and impacted an airport perimeter fence. The pilot reported that he must have not fully disengaged the parking brake before takeoff and that there were no mechanical issues with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the parking brake handle was partially extended, which likely resulted in the airplane’s decreased acceleration during the takeoff roll.

The aircraft was landed in a pasture about 2 miles from the airport after the aircraft began to descend 'behind the power curve' after takeoff. The pilot said he used full power for takeoff but the takeoff was longer than normal. The da was computed to be 9,286 feet. After takeoff the pilot said he raised the landing gear but a witness disagreed. The flight then reduced power and as rpm was reduced, noted that the mp was only 24 inches. The aircraft began a descent which the pilot said could not be stopped with power so he landed gear down in a pasture. The aircraft collided with 2 ditches and a fence during the 1,500 feet roll. The engines were found to operate normally after the accident. All four occupants were injured, two seriously.