Can you not just ask the inbound crew, or is it now deemed such a security risk that you aren't allowed near them? Many years ago when I was turning aircraft round the outbound crew would normally be waiting in the gate for the aircraft to arrive if it was running late, so they could achieve a quick turnround.
Most sensible passengers (are there many of us left?) would accept that a detailed investigation to get a relatively trivial piece of information is over the top, but it's a nice-to-have if it's readily available. Except maybe if the delay is due to the engineer doing a Heath Robinson repair with a mile of gaffer tape
