He didn't leave the gear down. He put it up, then chose to put it back down again. Reducing power is"unconventional". What i am saying is that there may be a valid reason for his actions. I am in no position to judge, as i was not there. There will have been a reason for the decisions made, and i conceed that that could just be incompetence, but those reasons could have been valid if the crew determined so under the circumstances they found themselves in.
I was not there and nether were you.
Blindly following sop can kill you just as fast as maverick flying.