Where there are machines and devices, there’s always a chance they may, one day, out of nowhere, just stop working. Sometimes, it’s just a mere nuisance, other times, if we're talking about big, major structures, the outcome may be catastrophic.
There’s even a whole corner of Reddit dedicated to the latter. The subreddit Catastrophic Failure is a place to share some unfortunate and peculiar scenarios of what happens when things like a chemical storage facility has a leak or when water lines freeze and burst in Texas during the record low temperatures.
So let’s scroll through the compilation below, which is honestly both frightening and a reminder that we all have to be more careful to make sure such accidents won't happen.
#1 April 28, 1988: The Roof Of An Aloha Airlines Jet Ripped Off In Mid-Air At 24,000 Feet, But The Plane Still Managed To Land Safely. One Stewardess Was Sucked Out Of The Plane. Her Body Was Never Found
Image credits: Sleeeepy_Hollow
#2 The View Of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse From Atop The Suspension Cabling, 1940
Image credits: MurdocBR
#3 Tourist Trapped 100m High On Chinese Glass Bridge After Floor Panels Blow Out (May 7, 2021)
Image credits: UrungusAmongUs
#4 Gas Leak Into Water Main Taiwan
Image credits: reddit.com
#5 Red Wine Cistern Catastrophically Ruptures At Sicilian Winery
Image credits: Radec594
#6 2020/11/02 Train Breaks Through Barrier Onto Statue At The End Of The Line. Happened In The Middle Of The Night, No Injuries As Of Yet. Spijkenisse, The Netherlands
Image credits: HeyRobin_
#7 8/14/20 Chocolate Snows Down On Swiss Town Due To Factory Defect
Image credits: MsMegane
#8 Final Seconds Of The Ukrainian Cargo Ship Before Breaks In Half And Sinks At Bartin Anchorage, Black Sea. Jan 17, 2021
Image credits: DARENDELl
#9 On April 20, 2010 , The Oil Rig Deep Water Horizon Suffered A Catastrophic Blowout
Image credits: I_Spilt_my_milk
#10 In Pittsburgh. Sinkhole Eats Bus. No One Seriously Hurt
Image credits: reddit.com
#11 Failed Rocket Launch (Unknown Date)
Image credits: himynameisnotdave
#12 $300k Video Wall Came Down In Vegas
Image credits: Lemeister
#13 December 2019 In Detroit: A Large Amount Of Chromium-6 Leaked Into The Ground From A Chemical Storage Facility That Contained It Improperly. It Was Only Found Out When It Leaked Onto A Nearby Highway
Image credits: drewbdrewb
#14 (2019) Cars Getting Transported On An Open Deck Catch On Fire After Salty Water Shorts Their Batteries
Image credits: procrastinator_diedz
#15 Boeing 777 Engine Failed At 13000 Feet. Landed Safely
Image credits: werdmouf
#16 Brand New Boeing 737 Fuselages Wrecked In A Train Derailment (Montana, July 2014)
Image credits: JPDLD
#17 A Functioning Dutch Windmill From 1848 Burned Down
Image credits: knakworst36
#18 Spacex’s Falcon 9 Rocket (Intentionally) Blows Up In The Skies Over Cape Canaveral During Successful Abort Test
Image credits: stratohornet
#19 Drone View Of Indonesia's Largest Oil Refinery Explosion In Indramayu
Image credits: maiyare
#20 8.4.2020 Beirut - Storage Before The Blast
Image credits: chillsnotskills90
#21 Tires From The United Flight That Declared Emergency During Takeoff. No Injuries
Image credits: Nexuist
#22 Arecibo Radio Telescope After The Instrument Platform Collapsed. (11/30/2020)
Image credits: twixerthewolf
#23 Train Derailment In Illinois
Image credits: aker29
#24 A Kalibr Cruise Missile Fired By Russian Destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov Malfunctions Mid Launch And Crashes Into The Sea (April 2021)
Image credits: Abrytan
#25 On May 20, 1976, During Structural Renovations, A Fire Burned Away The Montreal's Biosphère Transparent Acrylic Dome
Image credits: PrudentGogurt
#26 Drill Bit After Taking Out Some Of London's Internet, 2019-12-19
Image credits: smorga
#27 Container Ship ‘One Apus’ Arriving In Japan After Losing Over 1800 Containers Whilst Crossing The Pacific Bound For California Last Week
Image credits: MV_MerchantMan
#28 New Pictures From The Suez Canal Authority On The Efforts To Dislodge The Ever Given, 25/03/2021
Image credits: ClinicalIllusionist
#29 35 Years Ago, Space Shuttle Challenger Disintegrated And Killed All 7 Crew, Due To Failure Of A Joint In The Right Srb, Which Was Caused By Inability Of The Srb's O-Rings To Handle The Cold Temperatures At Launch
Image credits: SwagBugatti
#30 Molten Silly String
Image credits: HShahzad108277
#31 Incorrectly Installed Part LED To Gas Leak. One Fatality And 3 Injured After Explosion When Workers Were Sent To Investigate
Image credits: ThoseWhoH2O
#32 $1,250,000 Worth Of Corn Spilled After Silo Collapse In New Carlisle, Ohio On Jan 28, 2018
Image credits: GetReadyForTakeOff
#33 Markham, Ontario, Plywood Used To Repair Building Proves Insufficient For The Task
Image credits: songinheart17
#34 Fireworks Store Bursts Into Flames At The Market In Rostov-On-Don, Russia, On The 6th Of December, 2020
Image credits: KhitrykhNikita
#35 Huge Fire At A Huawei Research Facility In China, September 25, 2020
Image credits: ItsaMeRobert
#36 Water Lines Are Freezing And Bursting In Texas During Record Low Temperatures - February 2021
Image credits: mouthofreason
#37 Stucked Bulk Carrier Ship Wakashio Spilling Oil On The Coast Of Mauricius, 7.8.2020
Image credits: Slovak_Republic
#38 The Moment A Fuel Tanker Drifts Into The Median And Explodes On I-75 In Troy Mi. The Fire Raged For Over 2 Hours, And I-75 Is Shut Down Indefinitely. The Driver Survived. July 12, 2021
Image credits: drewbdrewb
#39 May 2021, The Bridge On Interstate I-40 In Memphis, Tn, USA
Image credits: _SP3CT3R
#40 July 8, 2019. A Truckload Of Apples Is Now Evenly Distributed On The Pavement
Image credits: klonkish
#41 Sewer Main Exploding Drenches A Grandma And Floods A Street
Image credits: reddit
#42 Under Construction Hard Rock Hotel In New Orleans Collapsed. Was Due To Open Next Month
Image credits: whichonesp1nk
#43 Us/Mex Border Wall Section Collapses - Hurricane Hanna - 26 July 2020
Image credits: StoneheartedLady
#44 This Glass Vacuum Lift Failing Spectacularly
Image credits: Dungeonmeat
#45 In 1945, A B-25 Bomber Got Lost In A Patch Of Fog And Crash Into The 79th Floor Of The Empire State Building. Fourteen People Passed Away In The Incident
Image credits: Sleeeepy_Hollow
#46 10 Years Ago - A 9.0 Magnitude Underwater Earthquake Instigated The 2nd Worst Nuclear Disaster In History - The Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown - March 11th, 2011
Image credits: MR_PRESlDENT
#47 Catastrophic Driveline Failure 700' Up. I Avoided Most Of The Wires But Caught Two Small Utility Lines Right Before We Set Down. I Broke 2 Ribs, Passengers Were Unharmed. (Oc)
Image credits: shade-tree_pilot
#48 The Base Of The “Fire Tornado” Was 1,000 Feet Wide — Larger Than Three Football Fields — And Was Fueled By Winds Gusting To 165 Mph, According To The Cal Fire Report. It Exploded 7.5 Miles Into The Air, Ripping Roofs Off Homes And Toppling Power Lines
Image credits: Supernewstar
#49 (Aug 12, 2019) Tesla Model 3 Crashes Into Parked Truck. Shortly After, Car Explodes Twice
Image credits: exofeel
#50 Captain Brian Bews Bails At The Last Moment After A Stuck Piston Causes His Cf-18 Hornet To Crash
Image credits: RyanSmith
#51 Excavator Being Lifted Into Tunnel Shaft In Hong Kong Falls. 10/14/2020
Image credits: reddit
#52 In Cancun During A Gender Reveal Party
Image credits: BalddEaglee
#53 Grain Bins In Iowa, USA After 80+ Mph(128+ Kmh) Winds. 2020
Image credits: _SP3CT3R
#54 Windows Shattering In A Building A Mile Away From The Chemical Factory That Exploded In China
Image credits: to_the_tenth_power
#55 Residential Building Is Burning In Milan (29 Aug)
Image credits: guidocarosella
#56 Heavy Rains Burst Into Norwood Hospital (Ma, USA) - June 2020
Image credits: meatfrappe
#57 Girder Exits From Production Line, 2020-05-30
Image credits: FancyPC
#58 2021 March 22 This Swimming Pool Collapsed In Brazil, Flooding The Parking Lot
Image credits: Dedexterlory
#59 Machine Malfunctions Spraying Molten Metal Everywhere (Unknown Date)
Image credits: dturn9
#60 Another Angle Of The Gas Station Explosion In Volgograd
Image credits: u/675longtail
#61 Palestinian Apartment Building Collapses After Israeli Airstrikes
Image credits: werdmouf
#62 Structural Failure Arecibo Telescope Collapse 12/1/2020
Image credits: grecianformula69
#63 Uss Bonnehome Richard On Fire In San Diego
Image credits: KingNeptune767
#64 Motor Yacht Go Wrecks Sint Maarten Yacht Club’s Dock. St. Maarten - 24/02/2021
Image credits: DolphinMan92
#65 Foundry Worker Puts Wet Scrap Metal In Furnace, November 27, 2019
Image credits: dontrumpjr2024
#66 Burning Warehouse Explodes, Sending A Propane Tank Flying Through The Air
Image credits: reddit
#67 Petroleum Products In The Water System After The Accident At The Chpp-3 In Norilsk, Russia
Image credits: gTCitizen
#68 Parked Several Thousand Hot Rental Cars On A Dry Grass Overflow Lot In South Florida
Image credits: chechesmith79
#69 Chemical Factory In Istanbul Explodes And Catches Fire, Launching A Metal Tank Into The Air 9/19/2019
Image credits: TradFeminist
#70 Firework Balloon Disaster In Myanmar
Image credits: Abhi3626
#71 Highway Sign Falls On Car (2018)
Image credits: jjvolfan1
#72 Commander George C Duncan Is Pulled Out Alive From The Cockpit Of His Grumman F9f Panther After Crashing During An Attempted Landing On Uss Midway On July 23rd 1951
Image credits: jacksmachiningreveng
#73 Aftermath Of The Collapse Of I-35 W In Minneapolis Mn (August 2, 2007)
Image credits: GWSloppy
#74 An Explosion At The Ufaorgsintez Plant In Ufa, Russia. Two Containers With Methane Hydrogen Are Burning
Image credits: Suppaxo
#75 Ammonia Leak Near Chicago
Image credits: aker29
#76 Static Charge Causes Massive Fire In Back Of Box Truck
Image credits: Diabeto757
#77 Russian Mi-14 Struggles During A Water Takeoff And Ends Up Shattering Its Rotors
Image credits: to_the_tenth_power
#78 Mega Church Burning Caught Fire. Luckily There Were 0 Casualties
Image credits: hominahomina89
#79 Cable On A Window Washing Station Snaps And Hits A Power Line, Causing An Electrical Explosion. The Workers Were Saved By Their Emergency Harnesses
Image credits: to_the_tenth_power
#80 Unsecured Load On Highway 30
Image credits: burningolivebranches
#81 Toner Explosion
Image credits: 1736484
#82 Fixing The Old Water Tower Didn't Go Well. Russia, Feb'21
Image credits: cochinoloco
#83 Explosion In Henan Aluminum Factory After Heavy Flooding 20/7/2021
Image credits: Hapcube
#84 Truck Puts Too Much Torque Into Its Engine, Causing It To Explode Out Of The Frame
Image credits: [deleted]
#85 A Cross-Sea Bridge Collapsed, 2019-10-01 In Yilan, Taiwan
Image credits: feenaHo
#86 Container Ship Runs Ground With Precious Construction Cargo Aug 2019
Image credits: BrightenthatIdea
#87 A Fire Broke Out At A Polysilicon Plant In Xinjiang, China
Image credits: hillty
#88 Steel Mill Malfunction Leads To Gallons Of Molten Metal Being Pouted All Over The Factory Floor
Image credits: reddit
#89 08/10/2020 - Arecibo Observatory, One Of The Largest Single-Aperture Radio Telescopes In The World, Has Suffered Extensive Damage After An Auxiliary Cable Snapped And Crashed Through The Telescope’s Reflector Dish
Image credits: cv_please_staph
#90 Ferry Crashes Into A Loading Dock In Barcelona Causing A Fire
Image credits: mossberg91
#91 Concrete Retaining Wall Failure Allows A Hill Landslide
Image credits: RedTomatoSauce
#92 Medical Helicopter Experiences A Malfunction And Crashes While Landing On A Los Angeles Hospital Rooftop. Wreckage Missed The Roof’s Edge By About 15 Feet, And All Aboard Survived
Image credits: stratohornet
#93 The Ontario Police And Fire Department In California Are Investigating A Large Explosion, That Happened Moments Ago (03-16-2021)
Image credits: mouthofreason
#94 Super Yacht Crash 13th March 2020
Image credits: hypertroup
#95 An Explosion Occurred At The Tianjiayi Chemical Production Facility In Yancheng China
Image credits: MAGAallthetime
#96 Pedestrian Bridge Collapse In Washington Dc 6/23/2021
Image credits: thenewyorkgod
#97 Firefighters Attempt To Put Out A Magnesium Fire
Image credits: to_the_tenth_power
#98 A Live Bomb Detonates On An Us Aircraft Carrier After Accidentally Being Dropped From An Aircraft, Killing The Cameraman (1953)
Image credits: RichRaichu5
#99 Truck Crashed Into Another Truck Carrying Loads Of Paint On The Highway
Image credits: [deleted]
#100 050220 Trailer Driver Misjudged It's Height, Crashed In To A 45 Years Old Iconic Pedestrian Bridge In Penang, Malaysia. The Bridge Is Beyond Repair And Got Torn Down The Next Day. Local Government Suing The Transport Company
Image credits: TimoKhoo
#101 Space X's Mk1 Starship Fails Its Nitrogen Pressure Test
Image credits: Piscator629
