April 2005 and Virgin Atlantic u-turned a Gatwick-Barbados flight 3 hrs in.
Engine trouble apparently.
Which meant there was no aircraft available for the Barbados-Gatwick overnight return flight.
The Virgin rep on the island at the hotel we were at told us they'd forgotten to load documentation which meant the occupants of the aircraft wouldn't be allowed to disembark.
Apparently "engine problems" absolved Virgin from compensation payouts whereas human error would have clobbered them for shedloads?
Now I wasn't affected by the delay and I don't know enough about procedures to comment but it certainly was an eye-opener as to what measures airlines are potentially prepared to take to avoid paying out for incompetence.