N701XSZenith Aircraft CH701 · 2012

The owner of the airplane reported that, during the flight, he was seated in the right seat, and the pilot flying was seated in the left seat. The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with single-engine land and flight instructor ratings. He added that, the experimental amateur-built airplane had one throttle located on the far-left side of the cabin, one set of brakes located on the left side rudder pedals, and the nose wheel steering was interconnected with the rudder pedals.

He further reported that the pilot, started and taxied the airplane for takeoff, performed climbs, descents and turns, and landed. During landing, the airplane was fast, touched down hard and bounced about 20-25 ft. The pilot then said, "Oh that's alright I got it", leveled the airplane, and continued the landing. Subsequently, the airplane porpoised, landed with the nose to the left of the runway centerline, veered off the runway to the left, and struck a tree.

The owner added, that during the landing he told the pilot "nose down, right rudder", and during the runway excursion he yelled "brakes!". He added that, the pilot never reduced throttle to idle, and he never felt the application of brakes.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage.

The owner reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The pilot's lawyer reported that his client was not the pilot flying the airplane, due to not having previous training in the category, class and type of aircraft.

The airplane was a single engine, tricycle landing gear airplane with a 100 horsepower engine.