Saw this and is baffling! Very sad for the FO, seemed like a smart kid with a bright future.

Maybe the pilot who landed asked him to do something stupid like look at the gear from an open door, and now since the guy died, he is claiming he jumped to avoid blame.

Strange. With a landing gear problem it's somewhat plausible someone was having a look from a precarious position

I guess that would be a huge coincidence that the time he decides to kill himself is also the same time he happens to have a gear failure.

Hate to speculate but that was my first thought as well. Maybe looking out at the gear and fell out?

I think that’s what happened! They were struggling over the nuclear bomb

Probably. Although if he already had issues, and he made the landing that broke the gear in the first place, who knows?

Anyone who has ever flown a jump aircraft knows that you're safer outside, than in. Generally that involves the option of a parachute, however.

I read somewhere that they had a hard landing on the first attempt and the gear was damaged. He might have been checking the gear or it could have been something else. I’m not sure who attempted the first landing.