A passenger texted that a bird was stuck in the wing (maybe that’s meant to be that a bird had struck the wing?). In any case, ATC warned of birds and there was a mayday return to airport.
From a close look at the first couple seconds of the video, it appears the gear didn’t collapse but rather wasn’t down.
I suppose a bird strike could take out the ability to lower the gear. But that seems very unlikely. Even without hydraulics the gear can be dropped and locked on a 737, as far as I know.
It’s too early to say but it seems likely the crew forgot to put the gear down, and came down with a big load of fuel and made a bomb if it by hitting a wall. That is so sad.
It won’t be long now before AI makes human error like that nearly impossible.