When the passengers are informed that an aircraft cannot take off due to technical reasons, it usually means that the airline not only has to have the aircraft towed away for expensive emergency repairs, it has to make alternate arrangements to fly the passengers maybe even provide accommodation and food while the passengers are waiting. All put together, it can be one big frightful bill and just a few of these in a year would be enough to dent the airline's profitability.

The above is of course, is the better scenario when compared to an aircraft that develops a technical fault during flight. That one can be really scary. Modern well run airlines will go to great lengths to ensure such incidents are minimized if not totally eliminated and they do this through aircraft engine monitori ... Read more »