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!
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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!
05:22Don't let me go!
05:22Don't let me go!
05:23Don'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.
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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.
09:21Bye.
09:30Bye.
09:30Bye.