At 0252 EST, the pilot of VH-UZQ informed the tower that he had aborted the take-off and that he was returning the aircraft to the hangar. He then requested cancellation of his flight plan. Approximately one hour later, the pilot telephoned the tower and indicated that a runway light may have been damaged. The safety officer inspected the runway and reported no apparent damage. At about 11 am EST that morning, personnel from the company which operate the aircraft telephoned the tower and reported damage to the aircraft indicative of it having run off the runway and impacted with ground equipment. A second inspection of the runway revealed significant impact damage to two sets of T- Vasis boxes.
The pilot later reported that soon after he had advanced the power levers for take-off, he realised that one propeller was probably still on the start locks. He immediately brought the power levers back and while the aircraft was still rolling, he pulled the left power lever into reverse in an attempt to remove that propeller off the locks. The aircraft then departed the runway to the left. The aircraft sustained minor damage to one engine and propeller.
The on-site investigation confirmed that the aircraft departed the runway to the left approximately 150 metres into the take-off roll. The wheel tracks indicate the right propeller struck the first T- Vasis box soon after the aircraft entered the flight strip. The aircraft then passed over a taxiway before re-entering the main runway. The second T- Vasis was struck either by the main landing gear or right propeller as the aircraft was turning right to re-enter the runway. The pilot who was the sole occupant, was not injured and the aircraft was taxied to the company facilities without further incident.