the brace, brace, brace chant was unusual..
It's actually taught that way. If it isn't "chanted", then it's hard to hear AND you get many reports of "The Cabin Crew panicked" when they were actually following their procedures to shout commands.
Having an airline line maintenance background I would not be surprised if debris from the nose cone separation caused the missing blade to snap off, damage the other blade as seen in the photos
What nose damage are you talking about?
but we will arrive in Honolulu on schedule. Not even the "Sky Gods" of the old days could accomplish that with one engine out and reduced airspeed.
Well, they were nearly at top of descent, and if they were running a few minutes early - perfectly possible.
