I don't mean to Monday morning quarterback, but I wish to pursue the following discussion from a flight safety viewpoint.
I heard a report that when this aircraft first took off and the pilots raised the gear, it was noted (how this info was obtained I don't know) that a door did not close on one of the MLG. According to what I heard, the pilots then chose to cycle the gear back down, which they did successfully. So far so good. Then they chose to cycle the gear back up again, which caused the malfunctioning door to jam the gear, precipitating all of the drama.
I don't know if this report is accurate, but I do have a question. If the circumstances were as this report claims, wouldn't it have been better to leave the gear down (when it was first cycled down), rather then cycle the gear back up again with a known door malfunction? It seems to me that if you know you have gear trouble, and you get the gear down correctly at least once, wouldn't it be better to leave the gear down and take it back to the barn, rather than to try to continue the flight?
Thanks,
Flight Safety