Positionandhold - first and foremost - happy to hear that your wife is OK. I'm sure the rebook, recheck, restart is frustrating.
I have two questions for you from your "firsthand" knowledge:
1. What was the "smoke state" in the cabin?
- was visibility impaired: 5m / 1m?
- where did it get to in terms of breathe-ability: choking?
2. Do you ( &/ your wife) think the correct decision was taken this time?
- and was this done too late / too soon?
And a comment:
Lack of PA announcements seems to be a recurring theme at PPRUNE. I am not sure that there is much science on this and clearly it is not a good thing to issue "don't panic" noise. Surely something on lines of "The captain is aware of a potential problem and is currently investigating - please be prepared to follow instructions from cabin crew..." would be better. If only to avoid "news vacuum induced panic".
-r101