Pax Info
Several subjects occur on this thread - this is just about the passenger info side of things.
I had a popping engine on take off too once at Geneva on an MD-80 (a piece of tyre had gone into it, so that wasn´t our only problem).
As soon as we reasonably could - ie. after getting the ship to a safe height and established a short term plan of action - I informed the passengers to the best of my knowledge at the time, what we had. The cabin crew later confirmed that this had been a very good thing to do as it:
a. Showed the passengers that someone up front had noticed the problem and was dealing with it.
b. Helped a lot later in the flight, when we had to make a precautionary landing and needed the cooperation of our passengers.
This wasn´t the only information we passed on - during each flight phase we tried to keep everyone up to date.
During the approach the Cabin Chief was able to let me know that the passengers were in good shape and some were reading newspapers... A couple of letters from the passengers later showed their appreciation for the information.
Passengers please be aware, however, that there is a lot to do up front when things go wrong and what may appear to be an interminable delay to you - especially after some marked banging and flaming - may be an action filled few seconds to your cockpit crew.
FC.