Was privileged to be in the tower some years back as a certain lo-co 737 went around after reporting too high and fast on a visual approach (no traffic anywhere near), then as they turned crosswind, the wrong button was pressed and the 'PA' came over the AIR frequency, advising us that "ATC had put us in too tight behing a previous arrival....absolutely no problem....don't panic....sorry for delay....landing in about 4 minutes" etc etc. Still makes me smile to think of the embarassment that must have ensued when the error was subtly pointed out....
I know honesty is the best policy but let's be honest, passengers will generally be calmer to hear that they're delayed due to ATC delays, than the aircraft we're all about to travel in six miles up at 500mph is a bit broken.....