I feel that it is necessary to present the facts, because it appears as though the person who started the thread is trying to damage Air Mauritius' image unnecessarily. The facts will hopefully show that.
The Jepps:
Part of the Cockpit Safety Check is to ensure that all documentation required for the flight is onboard and available for the flight at hand.
This aircraft, according to the aircraft rotation at hand would have been to CDG twice, JHB & DBN once and it had just returned from ZRH prior to the flight to PER - i.e. in the previous 6 days.
Yes the Doc's section should have ensured that the Jepps were onboard, but the crew identified the omission and had it corrected.
Previous crews would not have looked for the presence of Australia Jepps, nor were they (the Austarlia Jepps) required to be onboard for the flights that took place during the previous 6 days.
The Thunderstorm:
Probably one of the worst to have hit Plaisance for many years. Certainly right up there with some of the worst to be found in the Johannesburg and Welkom area. So intense was the storm that at one stage there was a funnel developing at the base of the cloud on the final approach path for Runway 14. Communications were disrupted at the airport and an inbound B767 eventually diverted to RUN during this storm. A sound decision by the crew to delay the departure to PER?
The Engine Shutdown:
The need for the engine shut down in flight was due to a loss of oil pressure. ECAM actions would have taken the crew through the ENG OIL LO
PR emergency procedures, followed by the ENG SHUT DOWN procedure. The return to MRU would have furthermore required the crew to discuss the need to jettison fuel to ensure a normal weight landing. Once the decision had been made the QRH FUEL JETTISON procedure would have read and the jettison initiated. During all this as 4HP has pointed out there would have been communications with the tower, operations, and the Senior Flight Purser. So if it took the Captain 5-10 mins to announce to the passengers that an engine had to be shut down and that a return to MRU was required, was in fact very quick indeed.
For the record, CFM was consulted and the source of the oil pressure drop rectified. They (CFM) then cleared the engine for further flight after due consultation with the Engineering Section. The same aircraft departed for PER the next day and has been fully utilised on the line without any further problems.
Communication with passengers thereafter:
A return like this is a difficult time for what in reality is a small airline. Crew did reach FDP limits, and the crew schedulers had to satisfy the needs for other delayed flights as well. I assume that it was decided that to delay the PER flight till the next morning was the best practical solution to the problems at hand.
I cannot make comment on whether the passengers could have been taken to the hotels earlier.