20 Times Final Destination Happened in Real Life

20 Times Final Destination Happened in Real Life

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at 20 real-life accidents that mirrored the fatalities from the “Final Destination” franchise. As a warning, there will be spoilers.

Tall Skyscraper

Keeping with its freaky tradition, “Final Destination Bloodlines” kicks off with a stunning disaster in a sky-high restaurant. It’s 1969, and during the grand opening of the futuristic Skyview, Iris has a premonition of the tower collapsing. She warns everyone, narrowly averting the tragedy. While nothing as dramatic occurred in real-life, something equally tragic did happen. In 2017, a young Chris Holt was with his parents visiting the Sun Dial, a rotating restaurant on the 72nd floor of Atlanta's Peachtree Plaza Hotel. He wandered away and got trapped between the wall and the rotating restaurant’s floor. Rescue attempts failed and he later died. The building may not have collapsed, but after that, who wouldn’t get nervous about dining way up high?

Stone Altar

In the “Final Destination” franchise, even if you manage to escape a massive disaster, Death always comes back–striking in the weirdest, most elaborate ways imaginable. Tragically, a real-life incident echoes that same chilling theme. In 2009, Gunther Link, a devout catholic survived being trapped in an elevator. Grateful to be alive, he went to give thanks to God. But fate had other plans. While praying at the Weinhaus Church in Vienna, he clung to the stone pillar and the stone altar collapsed and crushed him. He was found dead the next day by parishioners. What are the odds of something so eerie happening? It’s honestly the kind of tragic twist you’d expect in a horror movie.

The Rollercoaster

The rollercoaster accident in “Final Destination 3” hits a little close to home when you hear about a real-life incident from 2019. In the film, Wendy boards the Devil's Flight rollercoaster, and suddenly has a vision that it will crash. Panicking, she convinces some friends to get off- and moments later, the crash actually happens. Now, here’s where it gets eerie. In 2019, at a theme park in Mexico City, a rollercoaster called Chimera actually did derail. One of its cars veered off, fell several feet away and two people died from the accident. As freaky as Wendy’s vision is, it proves that the unthinkable can happen. But then again this is not the only case of rollercoaster accidents.

No Escape

In the very first installment, Alex has a gut-wrenching vision of Flight 180 exploding just before take-off. In a panic, he manages to save himself and some other passengers. But Death’s not quite done with them. In fact, the entire franchise runs on this scary pattern- escape now, pay later. Now here’s the kicker- something just as chilling happened in real-life. In 2012, sportscaster Jessica Redfield escaped a mass shooting at Toronto’s Eaton Centre. She even tweeted about having a sickening feeling before it happened. Tragically, weeks later she died in a second shooting, this time in a movie theater. Makes you wonder if “Final Destination” draws from real-life or is life just that twisted? Either way, it’s terrifying and sad.

Large Steel Chain

Every fan of the franchise knows the drill, freak accidents, chain reactions and Death lurking in the unlikeliest places. Remember the gymnast’s death in “Final Destination 5”? She’s mid-routine when chaos unfolds- a loose screw, chalk in the eyes, a stumble… then bam, she loses her grip and falls to her death. Sounds wild, right? Well, real-life gave us something just as bizarre in 2023. The punk band Cliffdiver was en route to the Punk Rock Bowling festival in Vegas when all hell broke loose. Out of nowhere, a massive steel chain link, from a passing semi-truck, flew past the driver seat and slammed the driver, Tyler Rogers, in the neck. Miraculously, the van didn’t crash and Rogers survived.

Decapitation

Some accidents on “FD” might seem over-the-top and absurd at first glance- but then real-life comes along to remind us that the truth can be just as bizarre. In 2004, a drunk driver in Georgia, John Kemper Hutcherson, crashed into a support wire for a telephone pole. The wire acted like a razor and in the chaos, decapitated Francis Daniel Brohm, who was leaning out the window. The drunk Hutcherson drove 12 miles home with the headless corpse and even slept in his bloody clothes. It wasn’t until a neighbour spotted the corpse that authorities got involved. Still, a decapitation by a stray wire? What are the odds of that happening? It proves that the weirdest, most gruesome accidents don’t just belong on screen.

Wood Chipper

Bizarre doesn’t even begin to describe this 2005 incident that happened in Denver. Chad Swank and his longtime partner Brian Morse were working a routine tree-trimming job when tragedy struck. While cutting a branch, Swank noticed that Morse was lying across the opening of the chipper. At first, he thought the machine was turned off and Morse was fixing something. But to his surprise, the chipper was still running and Morse was being pulled towards it with his feet first. Even sadder, Swank couldn’t do anything to stop it. This accident reads like an “FD” scene- unexpected, brutal and unsettling. We’ve seen everyday machines turn deadly in horror fiction. Unfortunately, they do cause real-life tragedies too.

The Cursed Flight

No one can forget that iconic opening of the first film. It’s the moment that kicked off a franchise built on freaky accidents. That very scene was born from writer Jeffrey Reddick’s idea, which came after he read a strange real-life story in the newspaper. According to this story, a mother had warned her daughter not to board a specific flight because she had a bad feeling about it. The daughter listened and that plane later crashed. While Flight 180 may be fictional, it’s eerily similar to a real-life plane crash. In 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded mid-air just twelve minutes after take-off, killing all 230 passengers on board.

Orange Peel

Imagine surviving near-death experiences-like plunging over Niagara Falls in a barrel- only to be taken out by an orange peel. That's exactly what happened to the British daredevil Bobby Leach. After surviving the Falls, he kept pushing limits like swimming dangerous rivers- but nothing fatal happened. In 1926, during a publicity tour in New Zealand, fate came knocking on his door. While walking down the street, Leach slipped on an orange peel, injured his leg and got a nasty infection. Doctors planned an amputation, but it was too late as he died from complications. As sad as it is, isn’t it peak “FD” energy? Something tiny kicks off a domino effect, before you know it someone is being impaled or electrocuted.

MRI Machine

Just as Stefani warned, Death was coming for everyone in her family. Her cousin, Erik, narrowly survives one freak accident in his tattoo shop and thinks he’s in the clear. But Death’s not done. While near an MRI machine, it powers up behind him. Soon, his phone is sucked in, boosting the magnet to dangerous levels. In a horrifying twist, his piercings are ripped out just before he’s yanked into the machine. It’s painful to watch, but something just as brutal happened in real-life. In New York, Keith McAllister was wearing a large gold chain while his wife was getting her knee scanned. The MRI machine forcefully pulled him and he died the next day from the traumatic injuries.

Pool Drains

In “The Final Destination,” Hunt chases his lucky quarter into the deep end of a swimming pool, where he gets his bottom stuck against the powerful drain. With nowhere to go, the pressure gauge reaches a high enough number to suck his intestines out and regurgitate them all over the deck. There have been many true cases of swimmers being stuck against pool drains, though most end in rescue. But just two years before the film’s release, a young girl in Minneapolis sat on a powerful public pool drain and suffered a similar fate to Hunt. Though she initially survived, she would not make it through a series of surgeries. As a result of this tragedy, Congress passed legislation to ban drain covers that don’t meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

Tanning Beds

Horror films have long used tanning beds as a plot device to convey the purported dangers of vanity (or the literal danger of skin cancer). Vapid teens Ashley and Ashlyn find themselves trapped in a fiery tomb after a series of unfortunate events sets their beds ablaze. While there have been many instances of tanning beds causing major fires at salons, they’ve fortunately happened while the businesses were closed. That is, except for one case. In 2014, a woman catching a tan found herself flying too close to the sun. After hearing a spark and seeing smoke, the bed caught fire. Fortunately, the woman was not locked in like the girls in the movie—so she jumped out as the sprinkler system kicked on, and survived the calamity unharmed.

Nail Guns

After Ian is saved in “Final Destination 3,” the reaper quickly moves on by unloading a full clip of nails from a modified nail gun into the back of Erin’s head. Actual pneumatic nail guns don’t operate quite like the one in the movie, but at least 10 construction site incidents have resulted in fatalities according to OSHA databases. In 2023, a truly “Final Destination”-esque situation unfolded when a nail gun erroneously ejected two nails. One ricocheted off the other, which was sent upward through the tongue of a carpenter’s apprentice. The man miraculously survived, but a 33-year-old laborer would lose his life in a freakish workplace disaster that took place in 2013. The sequential trigger of the nail gun he was using had been swapped out for a contact one, causing him to misfire directly into his eye while holding up a wall.

Kitchen Knives

Kitchen knives are a common tool used in homicides, but have been the cause of some truly grotesque mishaps as well. In the first movie, Val reaches for a rag, which happens to be draped over a knife rack. The entire thing tumbles over, sending a blade directly into her chest. The Rube Goldberg-like scene is pretty convoluted, however not entirely unrealistic. In 2025, a boy in Australia tripped and fell backward onto an open dishwasher, landing on a steak knife. He fortunately survived the ordeal. But 4 years prior, a man carrying a plate of food up the stairs tripped and landed directly on his knife, which cut his carotid artery and caused him to bleed out.

Elevator Doors

There’s an eerie number of ways an elevator can kill you. A rapid descent, a tumble down the shaft, or being crushed while entering or exiting have all caused casualties. But there’s nothing quite as horrific as the “Final Destination 2” moment where Nora’s head is caught in between the doors and popped off. Even more terrifying, this exact scenario has actually played out multiple times. Back in 1995, a man holding an elevator open for another passenger in the Bronx was beheaded in a bizarre mishap. In 2003, a surgical resident’s shoulders were pinned by a malfunctioning door and his head was severed. Even as recently as 2019, a woman in India had her headphones tangled in a factory lift’s outer structure, leading to a grisly scene.

Escalators

Like elevators, there’s a notable sinking feeling many of us get when we step on or off an escalator. What if your shoelace gets caught? What if the entire thing collapses? In “The Final Destination” Lori gets sucked into the gears during a mall disaster. So, basically everyone’s worst nightmare come true. And this nightmare did in fact come true in 2015. A mother in Beijing noticed a hole that suddenly appeared at the top of an escalator shaft when she and her son were reaching the summit. Though she managed to shove her boy to safety, she was tragically swallowed by the machine much like Lori.

Gym Weights

It’s safe to say the stack machine featured in “Final Destination 3” doesn’t really exist. It was designed specifically to crush Lewis’ skull during an intense workout. Though this piece of engineering is fabricated, it’s clear that gym weights are still extremely dangerous. Most fatal accidents occur without spotters present or on account of improper technique. In 2017, a trainer was pinned down in his home by a weightlifting machine that toppled over. The pressure on his throat led to a fatal heart attack. In 2025, a man performing calf raises while using a Smith machine slipped, causing the plastic step beneath him to tilt and the bar above his head to crash down on his neck.

Gas Grills

A good ol’ backyard barbeque should smell like hamburgers and hot dogs, not singed flesh. At the very end of “Final Destination 2,” minor character Brian is blown to bits by a propane tank. This final twist is played off in a comedic manner, to remind our protagonists that death is still making its rounds. However, it’s no laughing matter when these types of incidents take place in real life. These detonations aren't really powerful enough to send limbs flying through the air, so we can chalk the “Final Destination” scene up to dramatic effect. With that being said, there have been a number of grill related freak accidents. At a church community event, a dangerously high amount of propane had accumulated around the burner just before a volunteer sparked it. This explosion forced the grill door to open so violently that it struck and killed the man instantly.

Aerial Lifts

Most cherry picker related deaths occur when the attendant in the bucket falls out or is struck by a passing truck. Yet, despite being planted firmly on the ground, bad boy Ian is splattered by a cherry picker towering over him in “Final Destination 3.” One year after the film’s release, this anomaly actually occurred at a construction site. The victim was working on several counterbalance valves at the base of a telescopic lift while it was in an extended position. The boom suddenly collapsed, crushing him below.

Logging Trucks

Perhaps the most universally fear-inducing moment of the franchise, the pileup in “Final Destination 2” is seared into viewers' brains. And for good reason! These types of accidents are all too common. An unsecured load of lumber toppling onto an open highway is a terrifying scenario. The movie’s log through the windshield moment has unfolded numerous times, more often as a result of a driver rear ending a timber lorry. This occurred as recently as 2024, when a man in North Carolina was fatally impaled in the abdomen as a result of the crash. A similar incident took place the same year, claiming the lives of a couple in North Dakota. So it looks like this generational trauma sadly won’t heal any time soon.

Which of these real-life accidents freaked you out the most? Let us know in the comments!