Table 2 Viable microorganisms recovered from flight and control samples.

Flight samples

10,000 ft Filter A

NA

10,000 ft Filter B

NA

20,000 ft Filter A

Bacillus zhangzhouensis⁵*^,+, Bacillus pumilus^{1 +}

20,000 ft Filter B

NA

30,000 ft Filter A

Bacillus zhangzhouensis², Bacillus spp.^{2 ^}

30,000 ft Filter B

NA

40,000 ft Filter A

NA

40,000 ft Filter B

Streptococcus sp.^{1 ^}, Streptomyces spp.^{2 ^}

Ground control

Pre-flight plane swab

Bacillus subtilis^{4 +}, Bacillus pumilus^{3 +}, Bacillus megaterium^{3 +}, Bacillus zhangzhouensis^{1 +}, Bacillus safensis^{1 +}, Bacillus spp.⁸, Bacillus licheniformis^{3 +}, Bacillus halotolerans^{1 +}, Lysinibacillus sinduriesis^{1 +}, Methylorubrum zatmanii^{2 ^}, Lysinibacillus sp¹. ⁺

Post-flight plane swab

Bacillus spp. ^{2 +}, Bacillus zhangzhouensis⁶

Cabin control

Bench swab⁺

Bacillus subtilis³, Bacillus safensis¹, Bacillus maritimus¹, Lysinibacillus sphaericus¹, Lysinibacillus acetophenoni¹

Witness R2A plate

Pseudomonas syringae¹⁺, Microvirga^{#,$ 1 +}, Methylorubrum populi^{$ 1 +}, Cellulomonas cellasea ^{1 +}, Streptococcus sp ^{1 ^}, Agromyces^# sp ^{1^}, Planomicrobium glaciei^{$ 1+}, Staphylococcus epidermidis ²⁺, Bacillus licheniformis^{2 ^}, Citrococcus sp. ^{1 ^}, Bacillus paralicheniformis^{1^}

Process control^&

PBS elution fluid control

Bacillus zhangzhouensis ¹, Bacillus sp. ¹