Losing props was a feature of the big piston days, PanAm Statocruiser ditching enroute west coast to Hawaii being one of the more famous, another example was the B-29 pictured below, prop overspeed on number #4, prop came off and took out #3 and #2 while also slicing through the fuselage severing the captains controls. Shortly after the #4 prop problem began by good fortune they dropped the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket they were carrying, the pilot would have been killed when the prop came off. Co-pilot took control and made a safe single engine landing, some unknown by the name of Neil Armstrong. In the mans own words at 6:20.
