Three hundred case histories of malfunctioning towers reported over the last decade are surveyed and summarized. Comparison to an earlier survey forms the basis for an outlook towards the 21st century. Our survey suggests that column malfunctions are not becoming extinct. Their number is rising rapidly, showing no signs of decline in the near future. Particularly large rises are observed in installation mishaps, often due to sloppiness, and in primary design problems, often due to poor reality-checking of simulations. Troublesome tower internals, operational difficulties, instrument and control problems, and installation mishaps continue to be the dominant causes. Plugging/coking, followed by poor liquid distribution to packings and poor internals assembly, have been the top malfunctions.