AN SMA TWIN TRAINEE PLT LIFTED THE GEAR HANDLE ON ROLLOUT. THE R MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED.

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I BELIEVE AN UNNECESSARY TWR XMISSION TO A NEARBY HOVERING HELI CONTRIBUTED TO MY INATTN TO THE PLT'S ACTIONS DURING A CRITICAL PHASE OF FLT WHICH RESULTED IN A GEAR RETRACTION AND RWY DEP. I WAS CONDUCTING A MULTI ENG STANDARDIZATION FLT FOR A NEW MULTI ENG INSTRUCTOR. HE WAS FLYING THE SMA TWIN FROM THE R SEAT AND I WAS IN THE L SEAT. WE HAD RETURNED TO THE VISUAL PATTERN AFTER APPROX 40 MINS IN THE PRACTICE AREA WORKING ON MULTI ENG TRAINING MANEUVERS. DURING BASE TURN OF OUR FIRST PATTERN. TWR BEGAN COMMUNICATING WITH A HELI THAT WANTED TO COME OVER TO THE ARPT TO PRACTICE. ON A L BASE LEG OF OUR 2ND PATTERN; I VISUALLY ACQUIRED THE HELI S OF RWY 7 AT LOW ALT. TWR CLRED US FOR A TOUCH-AND-GO WHILE THE HELI CONTINUED TO HOVER 100-200 YARDS S OF THE RWY. THE OTHER INSTRUCTOR WAS FLYING THE PLANE AT THIS TIME AND I DIRECTED MY ATTN AWAY FROM THE HELI TO MONITOR THE LNDG. JUST AFTER WE TOUCHED DOWN; TWR TOLD THE HELI TO CONTINUE HOLDING AT HIS PRESENT POS AND HE WOULD GET HIM ACROSS BEHIND US. I INSTINCTIVELY LOOKED UP TO CHK THE POS OF THE HELI. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY I FELT THE R WING DROP AND CONTACT THE RWY. I TOOK CTL OF THE ACFT; SHUT DOWN THE ENGS WITH THE MIXTURE CTLS AND TURNED OFF ALL ELECTRICAL EQUIP. THE ACFT CAME TO REST JUST OFF THE R SIDE OF THE RWY APPROX 3000-4000 FT FROM THE APCH END. THE R MAIN GEAR HAD EITHER COLLAPSED OR RETRACTED. BECAUSE THE SMA'S GEAR LEVER IS ON THE R SIDE OF THE THROTTLE QUADRANT (WHERE THE FLAP LEVER IS ON MOST OTHER ACFT); I ALWAYS WATCH THE PLT WHO IS FLYING THE ACFT TO ENSURE HE IDENTS THE FLAP LEVER PROPERLY BEFORE RAISING THE FLAPS DURING A TOUCH-AND-GO. IN THIS CASE; A VERY UNTIMELY XMISSION BY THE TWR CTLR DIVERTED MY ATTN DURING THAT CRITICAL PHASE OF FLT. HAD MY ATTN NOT BEEN DIVERTED; MAYBE I WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PREVENT THE INCIDENT. TO PREVENT THIS TYPE OF OCCURRENCE IN THE FUTURE; I RECOMMEND TWR CTLRS LIMIT THEIR XMISSIONS TO THOSE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY WHEN THEY HAVE ACFT IN THE TKOF OR LNDG PHASE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 236200: HOW THE GEAR HANDLE GOT IN THE UP POS I STILL DON'T KNOW. WHETHER IT WAS MY KNEE; OR HAND? OR MAYBE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE GEAR HANDLE? I STILL CAN'T REMEMBER TOUCHING IT! WHY DIDN'T THE SQUAT SWITCH OVERRIDE MECHANISM WORK? WHATEVER THE OUTCOME OF THE INVESTIGATION IS; I THINK THAT THE FACT THAT THE ATTN OF BOTH PLTS WAS DRAWN OUTSIDE IS THE KEY.