What I want to know is what was going on with the engine? It sounds like the RPM's were decreasing the entire time. I'm not trying to monday-morning quarterback the situation (but maybe I'm doing it anyway?) but if I'm flying something and the RPM's keep dropping like it sounded like they were, I'd have probably set it down a tad quicker.
Then again, maybe that wasn't the best spot for a test flight, assuming it was newly built. If it wasn't, and anyone knows the details, I will eat my words gladly. Heck, I'm just glad the fellow ONLY lost his ship in this one. I know what it feels like to be in denial of the situation at hand.