Originally Posted by
tdracer
But it will have a significant forward force on it up to the point where it releases - so it will initially start moving forward. Combine that with the variable affect of forward speed (anywhere from static to the max forward speed of the aircraft) and where the prop might impact the fuselage a significant distance away and you're talking a rather large potential impact area.
i don't think that's necessarily the case. The same principle applies to ice being shed from a blade as does to the release of the blade itself (apart from the vastly different amounts of energy involved, obviously).
In the former case, airframe manufacturers reinforce a relatively small length of the fuselage in the plane of the prop, because that's the part of the cabin that's at risk from ice being shed. Exactly the same applies to the trajectory of a departing blade, except of course that's there's no hope of stopping it if it's heading for the fuselage (which is why it's not supposed to happen).