I've said it before, and I'll say it again, there is a severe lack of basic airmanship at the transport level these days. Regardless of what your procedures guide you to do, you are dealing with matters of life and death, anyone who does not go out of their way to check every single CB (particularly with over an hour of holding involved) with a major malfunction in an electrically powered item, and attempt to troubleshoot a problem this severe with "systems knowledge" after the book ends (I say "ends" because there is no official procedure, which I've seen, for ALTN GEAR EXT FAILED) does not belong on the flight deck. Following the book into the side of a proverbial mountain is not acceptable to me, no matter how anyone would like to justify it.
Even if it was another piece of equipment which was causing the fault in that particular distribution bus, company MX would have had access to the wiring diagram and listing of all associated items with the CB. I'd say pull them all until you can get the gear dropped. They were particularly lucky the winds were calm and the visibility was clear. If it hadn't been so the outcome would probably have been vastly different.
Bottom line, this incident is reminiscent of the Eastern L1011 in the Everglades, though thankfully it did not result in a loss of life. But goes to show how a $10 piece of equipment working incorrectly can contribute to/cause tremendous damage.