He probably was loaded to the gills and in a bad profile when he lost that engine and unable to maintain altitude, much less get any airspeed back. Emergency procedure for single engine calls for flaps and gear retracted because that's the only way to maintain altitude - and when making the kind of turns he needed to get back to a runway, he was right at stall speed - he probably didn't roll out of his turn until he was on short final, and wouldn't have had the time (and altitude) to extend the gear.
