Mxsmanic wrote:

Airport manager Timothy Fousee said a lever that locks the landing
gear in place malfunctioned.

Or it was improperly maintained.

No, the airport manager didn't say that.

However, many things that are not properly maintained do malfunction, so
it might be "And it was not maintained", but the airport manager didn't
say that either.

In any case it really doesn't matter to the people reading this does it.