The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

die horribly
 v.

    The software equivalent of crash and burn, and the preferred emphatic
    form of die. ?The converter choked on an FF in its input and died
    horribly?.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

die horribly

    The software equivalent of crash and burn, and the
   preferred emphatic form of die.  "The converter choked on an
   FF in its input and died horribly".

   [Jargon File]

   (1996-05-28)