Similar deal some years back, with a friend of the family. Couldn't
get the nose gear down on his twin. So they set up a relay between him
and the factory. He needed to burn off fuel anyway, so for the next
hour or more he circled east of town while they suggested things to
try, and he called back saying "that didn't work, what next."

He always laughed about how they ran out of ideas. He tried something,
called back and said "What do I try next? ... ... Hello?... " All
this while they tried to figure out how to word "We don't HAVE anything
next to try." G

In the end, beautiful dead-stick landing, all gear up. Maintenance
problem (he was returning from having the plane worked on at another
airport). They had disconnected a linkage, not properly reconnected
it, and once he retracted the gear it was NEVER going back down.
Insurance fixed the plane, and he was back flying a month later.

The other laugh he got out of it was being cursed at by a lady running
a local TV newscrew. She had picked the even up on a scanner (when it
first started) and was irate that he had "not really crashed. And
didn't he know how much it cost to keep a crew and equipment there
waiting?" He said she was really ticked off at him.