Or you could just tell people the truth. "We've had a problem with the left/right engine, the engine has failed/been shut down. We'll be landing at the nearest airport, standby for further instructions." I want my passengers aware of what's going on. If I lose an engine, and land someplace, I want them to be prepared if something even more abnormal happens. Same with a go-around: "well folks, the weather is too crummy to land, we're going to hold up here for a little while then try it again if it gets better, otherwise we're going to be heading to our alternate airport." People can tell when you're BS-ing them, nothing wrong with telling your passengers the truth - even if it's news they'd rather not know.
After working with the public even on small 50 passenger aircraft, you realize quickly people in a herd panic real fast. If you do it right you can spin it.
Take this example, delayed at the end of the runway for 10 minutes for flow.
Do you:
A) (Said in a slightly depressed tone) "Folks, some
bad news, ATC has a delay to PHL"
Moans and cries in back.
"Looks like our departure time is in 9-10 minutes"
B) (Said in a slightly enthusiastic tone) "Folks, some
good news. ATC has given us a departure time in 10 minutes, and we'll still be on time".
Smiles in back, because it's "good news!".
(A) happened while I was deadheading in back, was on a mainline aircraft nonetheless, you could have cut the tension with a knife in the 10 seconds between both PAs. People were swearing. Out loud.
Even a simple thing like having the APU broken freaks people out. Seriously. All they hear is "engine" and "broken" and they are toast. If you don't say anything the business travelers get nervous, so you have to say something, but just make it positive. That has been my experience working at the commuters.
We had some instances here where guys were giving the brace command on landing with a flaps failure. This was a completely normal landing for all concerned, even the pilots, albeit a slightly longer one. Really not a huge deal, and no reason what so ever (IMO) to scare people needlessly. If you roll the trucks yes you want to let people know, but there is a point where you can be too honest and really scare people.
