More likely, he got on the mike to say something about why they were turning around and be reassuring, but hadn’t thought it all the way out. So there he is, not wanting to alarm anyone, or get too technical, and ad libbing for all he’s worth. Oopsie. Haven’t we all done that at one time or another? Even if they do tell us all in flight school to think about what we’re going to say before we hit “transmit”.
Freejooky, what happened after you got on the ground? Did they put your flight on another plane, cancel the flight and rebook everyone, or have you all wait in the plane while they did what they needed to before taking off again?
And if it was some sort of emergency, I’d rather he use all his brainpower and attention on fixing or dealing with whatever the problem was, rather than coming up with an airtight, reassuring story for me! 
Right. But when a professional pilot says something foolish and possibly alarming to his passengers, it would be wise to correct it. Something appropriately vague and reassuring, along the lines of “Sorry for any confusion folks - we’re now on the way back to Norfolk, to sort out this equipment issue. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Very true. I think we can assume that the pilot coped with the problem before using the intercom. If he was talking when he should have been flying, his offense against proper and safe procedures was much more grave.
Oh, absolutely, I think that would have been preferable. Or, with the orignal communication “Folks, we have some improper indications up here - it’s probably minor but to be absolutely sure we’re going to turn around and go back and have this checked out thoroughly.”
Absolutely. You can be pretty sure that by the time one of the pilots starts making PA calls to the passengers that the problem has been brought under control, the various options discussed, and a plan put in to place. You don’t waste time and energy talking to passengers (or Air Traffic Control for that matter) untill the immediate threat is dealt with.