and maybe the shaking reported by passengers on previous flight was a flap problem that only showed itself in a lowered flap configuration...and that instead of a gear problem it was a flap problem
With little else to go on that would surely come up high on the list.
There maybe been an asymmetry problem that occurred on previous flight due to a broken part that just got reset or did not show itself on the ground with no loading and inadequate inspection.
Suddenly losing a flap panel during extension somewhere between 0 and 25 would cause some serious control issues without time to recover that close to terra firma.
Only speculation of course.