A viral TikTok about why you should never drink tea or coffee on a plane has been challenged by other aviation experts. Photo /TikTok
A viral TikTok about why you should never drink tea or coffee on a plane has been challenged by other aviation experts. Photo /TikTok
A flight attendant has revealed the "gross" reason passengers should avoid ordering a coffee or tea on a plane – however her claims have since been shut down.
Cierra, from Utah in the US, shared a now-viral TikTok explaining why you will never catch a crew member drinking a cuppa on a flight.
"Unless we are super desperate we will not drink the coffee or tea that's supplied on the flight," she said in the clip.
"The water that we use for the coffee and the tea come from the same spot – and guess what? It never gets cleaned."
Cierra, from Utah in the US, explained why you will never catch a crew member drinking a cuppa on a flight. Photo / TikTok
She claimed that while some airlines may tell passengers they do regular water quality tests, they don't.
"We are told it is about six to nine months before there's even one test on one plane to happen and they're not going to clean out that tank unless they find something," she claimed.
Kat Kamalani, another flight attendant who has clocked a total of 21.5 million 'likes' on her TikToks, also shared a clip claiming the same thing.
"The reason being is that those water tanks are never cleaned and they are disgusting," she said.
"So talk to a flight attendant, we rarely, rarely drink the tea or coffee, they come from the same water tank and so when you're drinking that coffee and tea it comes from that hot water and it's absolutely disgusting."
Instead, she said to only ask for things in bottles, such as bottled water and soft drinks.
However, several airline workers have disputed the claims – including an aircraft maintenance technician.
Stig Aviation shared images of the water testing kits they regularly use. Photo / TikTok
"This doesn't apply to all airlines," one staffer wrote on TikTok. "In our airline I can attest that they are really cleaning them."
"I've been a flight attendant for 18 years the hot water is fine," another said, although they admitted they never drank it cold.
"Ground handler who fills water on aircraft here. We sanitise our water truck weekly and send in water samples from our truck weekly."
An aircraft technician who goes by the handle 'Stig Aviation' did a TikTok duet with Cierra explaining what "really" happens with the tanks.
"The only thing she did get right is that the water tank is the only place where you get the water for the galleys," he said.
"The lavatories are sanitised regularly, four times a year if not more."
Coffee canisters are also replaced every flight, Stig Aviation claimed. Photo / TikTok
He said an 'ozone treatment' is one way of doing this.
"[The machine] will be hooked up to the aircraft and ozone treated water will be pumped into the tanks and all the lines disinfecting and cleaning out any kind of contaminants.
"Once again, it is done four times a year, if not more and it is strictly regulated."
He said the water is also tested by engineers who will ship sample kits to laboratories who perform tests on the water itself making sure there are no contaminants and no bacteria.
He then showed an aircraft coffee machine saying what people don't know is that it has its own water heater.
"Water that comes out of there is close to boiling – don't worry your coffee and tea is just fine," he said.
"I drink it all the time, never had a problem. And on a side note, the coffee pots themselves get changed out on every single flight by catering."
