"The aircraft was not totaled."
If you noticed I put that in quotation marks as tongue in cheek.
Passengers learning that it was taken out of service are, however, likely to see it as such and as most would understand perception is reality.
The airline and its associates can argue the technical and legal aspects all they want and be 100% correct.
Still many passengers will not understand.
Marketing and customer relations are very foreign concepts for many, but a simple email revealing nothing more than is already public and validated along some appeasing statements would be wise IMO.