Originally Posted by
tubby linton
For those saying that the landing gear was retracted too early I would disagree. It never happened.
When the gear is selected up the gear doors open. They hang down below the level of the nacelle until the leg has retracted. If they had contacted the runway they would have been substantially damaged but in the photo of the aircraft showing the rat extended the door looks intact, so in my opinion the gear was never extended on the first approach.
You can watch a gear swing here-
https://youtu.be/vfGn_1shZAs
Further, if the gear was down, the aircraft bounced, and the gear was raised the gear doesn't instantly retract. The gear doors would have to open, the gear retract, then the doors close, all of this happening during a bounce. Retraction takes approximately 8± seconds; that is some bounce.