Inertia (Momentum) of MLG assembly
Quote from BOAC:
As with others, I believe the intial impact would have firmly 'trapped' the gear in the up position - whether inertia would have been sufficient to force it through the distorted doors and the uplocks is for physicists/engineers to say.
Just a reminder that each A330 MLG is a massive (heavy) structure - one of the biggest in the business - whereas the main door you are considering is suitably large, but made of a composite material about as light as fibreglass. I'm also not convinced that this material could wrap itself around the bogie (wheel truck) without shattering.
It is true that pilots occasionally use the gear as an airbrake, and - in extremis - even to provide lateral stability. A double-engine failure would probably prevent the gear being subsequently retracted for a ditching, due to the effect on hydraulics, even if the APU could be started in good time. Once down, therefore, it would probably have remained down. So: was it?
CliveL's 9g longitudinal shear-pin - or something equivalent - must prevent an extended MLG from compromising the rear spar (or my "Bermuda Triangle"). The fact that the rear spar and MLG are still visible ensemble in the BEA photo convinces me that the gear was not in the extended position at the end of the flight.