30 Accidents And Fails That Made People Cringe And Think: “Well, That Looked Expensive” (New Pics)

When they hear the word "accident," many people think of car crashes. Many of the entries on this list are indeed car accidents, yet they're about the cost of property and damage to material things. The 1.1 million users of the That Looked Expensive subreddit certainly enjoy a car pileup or two.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traffic accidents are the most common reason young people (age 5 to 29) pass away. Every year, 1.9 million people are victims of road traffic injuries. Interestingly, more than half are what WHO calls "vulnerable road users," which includes motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians. 

Aviation accidents are another genre of catastrophe that the members of the subreddit are fans of. The most expensive aviation crash in history is the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber aircraft crash. It was America's most stealthy bomber, so, how did it end up in flames just moments after takeoff?

Thankfully, there were no casualties; the two pilots ejected themselves in time and only one of them had a spinal injury, eventually making a full recovery. The crash did, however, cost $2B. The cause wasn't any mechanical fault; it was just Mother Nature. Due to humidity, the plane's sensors misreported the aircraft's speed, and the Flight Control System (FCS) initiated a 30-degree climb upwards, guaranteeing a crash.

If we're talking about commercial flights, the title for the most expensive disaster would probably go to the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The search efforts alone have cost around $150 million to date. 

To this day, the Flight MH370 disappearance is one of the biggest aviation mysteries in history. While there are many theories out there (some more wild than others), officials think that the most credible ones are that either the plane ran out of fuel, that the pilots lost control of the aircraft, or that one of them was a rogue pilot.

In December of 2024, the efforts to find out what happened to the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 once again became the topic of public discourse. The US-based ocean exploration firm Ocean Infinity made a deal with Malaysia's Transport Ministry to renew the search. It's a "no find, no fee" arrangement, so the company will only be paid if they find the wreckage.

If you think only modern disasters can be this expensive, you'd be wrong. The shipwreck that's deemed the most costly in all of history happened in 1708. The San José, a ship of the Spanish treasure fleet, sank after a battle with the British and took with it a hold of gold, silver, jewelry, and emeralds. According to the newest estimates, the treasures inside the ship are worth from $7 billion to $18 billion.

The San José galleon sank near the shores of Colombia, and the shipwreck was recovered on its coast in 1981. Since then, there has been a fierce battle over who has the right to its treasures: Colombia, the Spanish, South American Indigenous groups, and even an American salvage company tried to claim it. 

The Colombian government wants to retrieve the wreckage and put it in a museum, an effort that would cost them a little over a million dollars. But archaeologists say that they find the fight over the treasure laughable.

"The treasure of the San José should remain at the bottom of the sea, along with the human remains of the 600 crew members who died there,” Juan Guillermo Martín, a Colombian maritime archaeologist, says. "The treasure is part of the archaeological context, and as such has no commercial value. Its value is strictly scientific."

Oil spills can cost a pretty penny for oil giants. The 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig is the most expensive to date. Experts estimate that around four million barrels of oil flowed into the ocean over 87 days. BP will continue to pay for the marine restoration projects up until 2031. In the decade following the spill, BP has paid well over $71 billion.

Probably nothing can top space disasters on their scale of wreckage. Space exploration is, however, one of the most expensive human endeavors. Perhaps the most expensive failed space mission was when the space shuttle Colombia broke down while re-entering Earth in 2003. Adjusted to today's inflation, the value of the disaster would be $16.2 billion.

Has this talk about expensive accidents and disasters got you in the mood to see more, dear Pandas? Don't fret, we've got you! Check out our previous articles about the That Looked Expensive subreddit here, here, and here. And don't forget to share the expensive disasters that live in your head rent-free in the comments!