Top 10 Times Final Destination Happened in Real Life

WatchMojo

Death has a design, and sometimes it's eerily similar to Hollywood horror. Join us as we explore real-life accidents that mirror the gruesome fatalities from the "Final Destination" franchise. From pool drain tragedies to logging truck disasters, these aren't just movie scares—they actually happened!

Transcript

00:00Ever get a chill when a logging truck passes you on the highway?

00:03That's it!

00:05That's the truck that's gonna kill everybody!

00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're mapping 10 final destination fatalities

00:12that have actually claimed the lives of real people.

00:16The franchise's elaborate traps may seem far-fetched,

00:19but some were inspired by real freak accidents,

00:22and others have shockingly come true in the years since the film's released.

00:25It's going to happen to us too if we don't do something about it.

00:29It even looks like some final destination bloodlines nightmares are already manifesting.

00:38Pool Drains

00:39In the final destination, Hunt chases his lucky quarter into the deep end of a swimming pool,

00:44where he gets his bottom stuck against a powerful drain.

00:48With nowhere to go, the pressure gauge reaches a high enough number

00:51to suck his intestines out and regurgitate them all over the deck.

00:59There have been many true cases of swimmers being stuck against pool drains,

01:03though most end in rescue.

01:04A freak accident and rescue at the public pool.

01:08But just two years before the film's release,

01:10a young girl in Minneapolis sat on a powerful public pool drain and suffered a similar fate to Hunt.

01:16Though she initially survived, she would not make it through a series of surgeries.

01:20A body can actually seal off these covers and large forces could hold a bather down to the drain.

01:27As a result of this tragedy, Congress passed legislation to ban drain covers

01:32that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

01:35Tanning beds

01:36Horror films have long used tanning beds as a plot device to convey the purported dangers of vanity,

01:42or the literal danger of skin cancer.

01:44Vapid teens Ashley and Ashlyn find themselves trapped in a fiery tomb

01:48after a series of unfortunate events sets their beds ablaze.

01:57While there have been many instances of tanning beds causing major fires at salons,

02:02they fortunately happened while the businesses were closed.

02:05That is, except for one case.

02:07When firefighters arrived, the tanning bed was fully engulfed in flames.

02:11In 2014, a woman catching a tan found herself flying too close to the sun.

02:16After hearing a spark and seeing smoke, the bed caught fire.

02:19Fortunately, the woman was not locked in like the girls in the movie,

02:23so she jumped out as the sprinkler system kicked on and survived the calamity unharmed.

02:29Nail guns

02:29After Ian is saved in Final Destination 3,

02:32the Reaper quickly moves on by unloading a full clip of nails

02:36from a modified nail gun into the back of Aaron's head.

02:41Actual pneumatic nail guns do not operate quite like the one in the movie,

02:45but at least 10 construction site incidents have resulted in fatalities,

02:49according to OSHA databases.

02:51In 2023, a truly Final Destination-esque situation unfolded

02:55when a nail gun erroneously ejected two nails.

02:59One ricocheted off the other,

03:00which was sent upwards through the tongue of a carpenter's apprentice.

03:04The man miraculously survived,

03:06but a 33-year-old laborer would lose his life

03:09in a freakish workplace disaster that took place in 2013.

03:12The sequential trigger of the nail gun he was using

03:15had been swapped out for a contact one,

03:17causing him to misfire directly into his eye while holding up a wall.

03:22Kitchen knives

03:22Kitchen knives are a common tool used in homicides,

03:26but have been the cause of some truly grotesque mishaps as well.

03:29In the first movie, Val reaches for a rag,

03:32which happens to be draped over a knife rack.

03:35The entire thing tumbles over,

03:37sending a blade directly into her chest.

03:40The Rube Goldberg-like scene is pretty convoluted,

03:44however, not entirely unrealistic.

03:46In 2025, a boy in Australia tripped and fell backward

03:50onto an open dishwasher, landing on a steak knife.

03:53He fortunately survived the ordeal,

03:56but four years prior,

03:57a man carrying a plate of food up the stairs

03:59tripped and landed directly on his knife,

04:01which cut his carotid artery and caused him to bleed out.

04:05Elevator doors

04:06There is an eerie number of ways an elevator can kill you.

04:10A rapid descent, a tumble down the shaft,

04:12or being crushed while entering or exiting

04:14have all caused casualties.

04:16But there's nothing quite as horrific

04:17as the Final Destination 2 moment

04:19where Nora's head is caught in between the doors and popped off.

04:22Let me go!

04:23Even more terrifying,

04:32this exact scenario has actually played out multiple times.

04:36Back in 1995,

04:38a man holding an elevator open for another passenger in the Bronx

04:41was beheaded in a bizarre mishap.

04:43In 2003,

04:44a surgical resident's shoulders were pinned by a malfunctioning door

04:47and his head was severed.

04:48Even as recently as 2019,

04:51a woman in India had her headphones tangled

04:53in a factory lift's outer structure,

04:55leading to a grisly scene.

04:58Escalators

04:59Like elevators,

05:00there's a notable sinking feeling

05:02many of us get when we step on or off an escalator.

05:05What if your shoelace gets caught?

05:06What if the entire thing collapses?

05:08In The Final Destination,

05:10Lori gets sucked into the gears during a mall disaster.

05:13So basically,

05:13everyone's worst nightmare come true.

05:15Help me!

05:16Help me!

05:17Help me!

05:17Help!

05:18Help me!

05:19Don't let me go!

05:21Don't let me go!

05:22Don't let me go!

05:23Don't let me go!

05:23And this nightmare did in fact come true in 2015.

05:27A mother in Beijing noticed a hole

05:29that suddenly appeared at the top of an escalator shaft

05:31when she and her son were reaching the summit.

05:34Though she managed to shove her boy to safety,

05:36she was tragically swallowed by the machine,

05:38much like Lori.

05:40The mall stayed open,

05:41customers unaware of the horror on the seventh floor.

05:45Jim Waits

05:45It's safe to say the stack machine

05:47featured in Final Destination 3

05:49doesn't really exist.

05:50It was specifically designed to crush Lewis's skull

05:53during an intense workout.

05:57Though this piece of engineering is fabricated,

06:00it's clear that Jim Waits are still extremely dangerous.

06:04Most fatal accidents occur without spotters present

06:07or on account of improper technique.

06:08In 2017, a trainer was pinned down in his home

06:12by a weightlifting machine that toppled over.

06:14The pressure on his throat led to a fatal heart attack.

06:17In 2025, a man performing calf raises

06:20while using a Smith machine slipped,

06:22causing the plastic step beneath him to tilt

06:24and the bar above his head to crash down on his neck.

06:27Gas Grills

06:28A good old backyard barbecue should smell like hamburgers and hot dogs,

06:32not singed flesh.

06:33At the very end of Final Destination 2,

06:36minor character Brian is blown to bits by a propane tank.

06:44This final twist is played off in a comedic manner

06:47to remind our protagonists that death is still making its rounds.

06:51However, it's no laughing matter

06:53when these types of incidents take place in real life.

06:55These detonations aren't really powerful enough

06:58to send limbs flying through the air,

06:59so we can shock the Final Destination scene up to dramatic effect.

07:03With that being said,

07:04there have been a number of grill-related freak accidents.

07:08At a church community event,

07:10a dangerously high amount of propane

07:12had accumulated around the burner

07:13just before a volunteer sparked it.

07:15This explosion forced the grill door to open so violently

07:18that it struck and killed the man instantly.

07:21Aerial Lifts

07:22Most cherry-picker-related deaths occur

07:25when the attendant in the bucket falls out

07:26or is struck by a passing truck.

07:28Yet, despite being planted firmly on the ground,

07:31Bad Boy Ian is splattered by a cherry-picker

07:33towering over him in Final Destination 3.

07:40One year after the film's release,

07:42this anomaly actually occurred at a construction site.

07:45The victim was working on several counterbalance valves

07:47at the base of a telescopic lift

07:49while it was in an extended position.

07:51The boom suddenly collapsed,

07:53crushing him below.

07:54Before we continue,

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08:10Logging Trucks

08:11Perhaps the most universally fear-inducing moment

08:14of the franchise,

08:15the pile-up in Final Destination 2

08:17is seared into viewers' brains.

08:19And for good reason.

08:24These types of accidents are all too common.

08:27An unsecured load of lumber

08:28toppling onto an open highway

08:30is a terrifying scenario.

08:32The movie's log-through-the-windshield moment

08:34has unfolded numerous times,

08:36more often as a result of a driver

08:37rear-ending a timber lorry.

08:39This occurred as recently as 2024,

08:42when a man in North Carolina

08:43was fatally impaled in the abdomen

08:45as a result of the crash.

08:46A similar incident took place the same year,

08:49claiming the lives of a couple in North Dakota.

08:51So it looks like this generational trauma

08:54sadly won't heal anytime soon.

08:57Which Final Destination death

08:58has made you the most terrified

08:59of an everyday thing?

09:01Be sure to let us know in the comments.

09:09in the comments.

09:18All right.

09:19Bye.

09:21Bye.

09:30Bye.

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