A pilot made an emergency landing in Colorado when his plane lost its propeller, but he didn't know the prop was gone since the windshield was covered with oil.

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Barry Cox of Aspen had just taken off from the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in his 1988 Piper Malibu Wednesday, and was climbing toward 16,000 feet for a trip to Denver, when the plane started having engine trouble. He was carrying three passengers -- his daughter and two family friends.

He couldn't see that the propeller was gone because the windshield was covered with engine oil, but the engine was still running, so Cox -- who has been flying for 30 years -- turned around and headed back to the airport, KMGH-TV, Denver, reported.

He glided back to the airport, looking through the side windows to keep his bearing.

"The hardest part was landing without any visibility," he told the Aspen Daily News. "I landed faster and longer than I wanted to."

David Ulane, the assistant aviation director for the airport, told the newspaper the emergency landing was "one of the more tremendous things" he has seen.