Flight attendant warning as common habit could leave you with disgusting illness

NEXT time you head to the bathroom during a flight, you might want to think twice about what you wear on your feet.

Flight attendants have warned that passengers risk catching disgusting fungus infections and even getting sick if they forget to put some shoes on.

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Podiatrist Ebonie Vincent said that they being barefoot leaves travellers exposed to bad bacteria.

She told the Washington Post: “You could pick up fungus, not to mention the millions of germs and bacteria that you could transfer to carpets, inside hotel rooms or homes and cars, which serves as a danger to other people.

Flight attendant Raven Johnson added that it made her “cringe”, saying: “Yes, they’re cleaning the planes a lot more than they used to, but still, you’re not at home.”

It isn’t the first time flight attendants have revealed the horrors of going barefoot on a plane.

One wrote on Reddit: “I promise you, 9 times out of 10, that is not water on the floor.

“The toilets are often absolutely disgusting and get deep cleaned only at the end of a route, for us this could be from one side of the world to the other… imagine how lovely they are at the end of a 12 hour flight with 200 people using them.”

Dani, who works as a flight attendant for Emirates, agreed in her TikTok video, adding it is the “first rule” is to never “go to the lavatory with no shoes on” – as they are rarely cleaned between flight turnaround.

Going barefoot isn’t only unhygienic, but could risk your safety if there is a plane crash.

Tony Kuna, who used to work as as a member of the cabin crew, explained: “During an emergency, all sorts of debris and unpleasant ground surfaces will block your way towards the exit, as well as outside the aircraft.”

He continued: “If your feet [aren’t] properly covered, you’ll have a hard time making your way to safety.”

“Imagine destroying your bare feet as your run down the aisle covered with broken glass, fires and metal shards. Kind of like John McClane in Die Hard, but worse.”

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