I lost two quads in separate accidents when there was loss of one motor. In the first case, a bullet connector separated between the ESC and motor, and in the other accident a propeller blade separated from the aircraft. These crashes has made me wonder how hard would it be to make Arducopter more robust and compensate for the loss of a motor 
You just need to use 6 or more motors and it will keep flying.
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Gee thanks, Captain Obvious! I was hoping for a solution for quads…
Physics is a b*ch, a quad with three motors is not flyable. The best that can be done is a high-speed continuous yaw, with some leveling and a quick descent (based on the original weight/thrust ratio). However, if I recall correctly, the algorithm for it is patented.
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Damned Physical laws! A continuous yaw/quick descent might minimize the damage… When I complete my build, I will endeavor to do a thorough physical inspection prior to each flight…
You never said anything about quads…
Both of your lost are caused by mechanical quality issues.
I can’t say what the rason was in your special case but
in general most of such issues can be solved by preflight checks and maybe not allways using the cheapest solutions.
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One was lost due to a bullet connector coming apart in flight. Perhaps a thorough visual preflight inspection would have caught it. At any rate, I use heat shrink to insure those connections don’t come apart. The other crash was due to a propeller blade separating from the hub - again, perhaps a close visual inspection beforehand woluld have caught that. I will endeavor to conduct thorough visual preflight inspections before each flight.
A common enough occurrence with anything other than a soldered connection.