A method and system for detecting a damaged machine component during operation of the machine are provided. The damaged machine component detection system includes one or more processors, one or more memory devices communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, an image capture device configured to generate a stream of temporally-spaced images of a scene including a machine component of interest, the images generated in real-time, and a grouping model configured to compare features of a current image of the stream of images to features of previously captured images sorted into a plurality of groups of images having similar features, generate an alert if predetermined features of the current image deviate from corresponding features of the grouped images by a predetermined amount, and update the groups with the current image if the predetermined features of the current image are similar to corresponding features of the grouped images by a predetermined amount. The system also includes an output device configured to output at least one of the alert and the current image.