Wow! In my opinion, if the trailer comes loose from the tow vehicle, then all hell has broken loose, chains or no chains, and I want to get things brought to a halt as fast as possible. Your hypothesis that
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if the chains are still hooked up then the plug should be in and you can stop by using the brake controller
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suggests that with the trailer disconnected, you are still in control and can bring everything to a gentle controlled stop. I've never experienced this, but I doubt it.
First, you have no steering control on the trailer, so it's going to be snapping left and right, and slamming the tow vehicle to the side every time it comes to the end of the chain. Can you maintain control when that happens? I doubt that I could.
Second, the tongue of the trailer has probably dropped to the ground and is bouncing off every little bump and hump in the asphalt, which further lessens your control. And it is leaving a massive trail of sparks. I know - if you adjust the chains to
just the right length, and cross them under the coupler, they are supposed to form a cradle that keeps the coupler off the ground. Ever checked it? Willing to bet your life on it?
Third, the tow vehicle brakes and the trailer brakes are never perfectly synchronized - when you press the brake pedal, one of them will brake harder than the other. If the trailer brakes harder, then it will drag behind the tow vehicle, at the end of the chains (but still without directional control), and you might as well have tripped the breakaway switch. If the car brakes harder, then the trailer is going to run into the rear end of the car, doing a lot of damage and possibly puncturing the gas tank. (Tell me again about that trail of sparks?) Anyway, in neither case are you in control.
Finally, with things banging and crashing around back there, it seems unlikely to me that the lightweight plastic electrical plug will stay intact very long, regardless of what the chains do.
Maybe it's just me, but if there's all of a sudden two tons of high speed uncontrolled metal slamming around 12" behind my car and trying to jerk it off the road or worse, I want it to stop, and I want it to stop NOW.
Bill