Mile High Club (mission)

"We're going deep, and we're going hard." "Surely you can't be serious?" "I'm serious... and don't call me Shirley."

- Romeo One-One to Charlie One-One

Mile High Club is a bonus campaign level of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. To play the bonus mission, the player must watch the credits and complete the mission "Game Over" or quit the end credits and go to the mission select menu.The player is an unnamed SAS operator (that could possibly be Soap MacTavish) battling through a double decked aircraft (possibly a passenger-customed Antonov An225) to rescue a hostage in a set time limit. The time limit varies from difficulty (Easy, 3 minutes; Normal, 2 minutes 30 seconds; Hardened, 1 minute 45 seconds; Veteran, 1 minute). In contrast to the rest of the story, this is a "classical" counter terrorist operation more in the vein of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series; at the end, the operator will switch to the suppressed USP .45 (the game does this automatically, however you can switch back to the MP5, but it will waste some time) and try to save the hostage from execution. On Veteran difficulty, when saving the hostage, the player has to kill the terrorist with a headshot, or the game will say "True veterans get headshots, not flesh wounds," and will make you start over. The player will then have 30 seconds to jump off the plane by a breach with the VIP and the other SAS operators.

Though what happened at the end of this level, who the VIP is, and how so many terrorists got on board an aircraft with so much weaponry all go unanswered, it is probably just a 'for fun' level. However, many people have speculated after seeing the Modern Warfare 2 teaser, that the two are somehow related, due to the fact that the teaser shows Russian terrorists in an airport and also a crashed plane.

The level features no frag grenades, and no explosive weapons of any type, (most likely due to the devastating effects such weapons would have on a flying aircraft) for the same reason only weapons with small bullet penetration (SMGs, pistols, shotguns) are found on the level. The player does start with 4 flash grenades (and can acquire more before the end of the level on a counter). This sort of level is similar to what you would expect in Modern Warfare 2's Spec Ops missions, which are meant to have nothing to do with the storyline.

Tips

 * Your teammates will pick off enemies you have missed; however, don't rely on them too much or you will probably die.
 * When you are in the room with the bodies on the table, you will see a thick piece of wood that can be easily penetrated.
 * If you play this on veteran, you must shoot the hostage taker on the head otherwise there's a message saying "True Veterans get Headshots, not flesh wound" thus restarts the mission again.
 * Using a shotgun in Arcade Mode will greatly increase your score.
 * Use flashbangs sparingly and at the right time.
 * Flashbangs are, "a HUGE gift from God" on Veteran difficulty.
 * On a counter on the upper floor, there are more flashbangs that help a lot when playing Veteran difficulty.
 * Before a terrorist comes out of the lavatory, knife him and pick his mini-uzi and swap it for your pistol, this can be helpful if you don't have time to reload your MP5 during an intense firefight.
 * If you play this in recruit,it is possible that you can leave enemies alone and walk pass through them and make your way through upstairs cause your teammates will pick them off anyway, but be careful if the enemies melee you.

Xbox 360 Achievements
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 * Mile High Club is obtained by completing the mission on Veteran difficulty.

Trivia

 * According to the "dev. only" missions when enabling the developer cheat in the PC version, "Mile High Club" was the first level to be completed, with a completion date of April 2007.


 * It is possible to knife the person holding the hostage instead of shooting him. If you jump forward continuously you will be right next to the hostage and the enemy with 1-2 seconds remaining. Then you can decide how to kill him.


 * A lot of players have said you could be playing as Soap MacTavish but you could be playing the new playable character in Modern Warfare 2, Gary "Roach" Sanderson.


 * Strangely, at the end of the level, you can't go back and jump out of the area where the plane's side was breached. You have to jump out the area at the end, or mission failed.


 * Some unused audio files in localized_english_iw04.iwd (inside the archive under sound/voiceovers/UK/airplane) shed some light on the mission's purpose. airplane_gaz_1_1_R has Gaz saying "Remember, the objective is to capture Kreigler, I repeat, capture Kreigler, alive. He's no good to us dead." airplane_gaz_7_2_R has Gaz saying "Watch your fire up here, we need Kreigler alive." airplane_gaz_9_1_R has Gaz saying "Nice one, Soap." And lastly, airplane_gaz_9_5_R has Gaz saying "We're going for a little free fall Kreigler! On your feet!" It is unknown if the back story of the mission was changed (and the audio subsequently not used), but it did get far enough into development to still be present in the .iwd file. Kriegler is one of the development staff.


 * It is possible that the VIP you need to save is named Kreigler (through the audio files in the topic above).


 * Oddly, one of the SAS operatives sounds very similar to British comedian David Mitchell, though it isn't him as he is not credited for voice acting.


 * The sound files also indicate that the hostage you rescue is Russian.


 * If you stand right next to the C-4 after Charlie One-One plants it, when it explodes you won't die. Also, if you run up to the hull breach at the back of the plane, you will not get sucked out or be adversely affected in any way.


 * If you are on any difficulty but veteran and don't get a lethal shot on the hostile holding the hostage, he will receive a bullet to the head from out of nowhere. If you turn around fast enough, you will notice that it does not come from either of your comrades' weapon.


 * At the beginning of the mission, two S.A.S. members have a conversation with the first one saying, "We're going deep, and we're going hard." to which two replies "Surely you can't be serious?" to which one replies "I'm serious... and don't call me Shirley." This is a nod to the famous parody-comedy film Airplane!. They are voiced by the same actors as Gaz and other SAS soldiers. Possibly it's a flashback, of previous S.A.S. missions.


 * Besides F.N.G. and Crew Expendable this is the only mission with S.A.S members with the Black Kit on.


 * In the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 4, if this mission is completed on Veteran difficulty, the "Mile High Club" achievement is unlocked, worth 20 Gamerscore.


 * Incorrectly regarded as reference to Al-Asad: The last terrorist holding the hostage does not say "This is for Al-Asad", in fact he does not speak in English at all. What he really says after his previous lines is "Ya skazal nazad" which in Russian means "I said stand back!".


 * Some fans believe that one of the two S.A.S. soldiers talking in the beginning of the level is Soap.


 * The plane is a double-decker and information on it can be found on an Emergency Card on a wall near the starting point of the mission.


 * When the hull breaches in the back of the plane, the oxygen masks drop right away. The cabin is decompressed and the S.A.S. ops are NOT wearing Personal Oxygen Systems (nor do they grab a passenger mask) so they would have died from hypoxia within 15 seconds.But,they are wearing gas masks,and enemys upstairs are wearing masks.The hostage has the bag on his head.


 * This could be an introductory level along the lines of Crew Expandable before it was replaced by latter. It could be because the storm, the weather effects and the sinking of the ship portrayed the graphical capabilities of the game's engine much better. Other reasons could be difficulty in integrating this mission in the storyline or the unsuitably high difficulty if it were an intro level instead of Crew Expendable.


 * If you checked out the unused speech files of the game, you can find many pieces of dialogue regarding this level. If this level was an official level in the game, as opposed to a bonus level, then the player would certainly control Soap and that Gaz is part of the hostage rescue team. This is proven by the fact that a sound file containing the line "Nice one, Soap." can be found, possibly to be played when the player successfully neutralizes the terrorist holding the hostage.


 * Mile High Club is in fact slang for, engaging in sexual activity aboard aircraft, which can be comically associated with military operations.
 * A similar situation occurred on an Air France Air plane on 26 December 1994 in Marseilles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_8969), where French commandos (GIGN), armed with MP5s and sidearms (just like in the mission) stormed the plane and took it back from Ultranationalist (in real life Algerian Ultranationalists) terrorists, just like in the game. The main differences being A.) the plane wasn't flying and had no bomb on board (but it is believed the terrorists were going to take off and fly the plane into the Eiffel Tower, effectively making it a missile) B.) the terrorists were Algerian and C.) the commandos were French G.I.G.N. operatives, not British S.A.S. agents.


 * At the completion of this mission where the S.A.S. team "go for a little free fall" you may notice that none of them are wearing parachutes. This could make for an interesting landing. This may help support the theory that this is a dream. However, you don't know if this is part of a plan. "Spec Ops" teams sometimes use smaller belly pack chutes to free up space on the back for combat gear. You do not know the altitude of the plane when you jump, thus allowing for some random chance that you don't NEED a parachute. However, there also has been some speculation that they were freefalling and awaiting other SAS men to grab hold of them and pull parachutes, in a military fashion.


 * When the cutscene starts, you see the cut out hole you jump through fall out, and then the level starts. But when the mission actually starts, your objective is right above you. This means that the operatives could not have been stowed up there since this is where the hostage is being held.


 * After completing the level successfully an SAS soldier says "Mission accomplished. See you next time mate." It is not known if this is related to the upcoming sequel to CoD4.


 * This is often considered to be the hardest level on Veteran difficulty.


 * When you finish the mission, a picture is shown of Griggs, Vasquez, Price and Gaz in a line. Some writing says to the side of them 'Semper Fi'. This is the title for the first mission of Call of Duty: World at War. It is also the motto of the United States Marine Corps meaning, "Always faithful" in Latin, although the SAS motto of "Who Dares, Wins" is not shown.


 * The picture also has the caption "Heart breakers and life takers" which may or may not be a vague reference to the film Full Metal Jacket.


 * If you notice the description for the level, it says "???", meaning that the creators either had no clue how to describe this mission or did not wish to describe it.


 * Gaz could possibly be speaking, but isn't spotted during the rescue op.


 * You start out with four people in your squad, you and three others. When you rescue the hostage, there are only three people, you and two others. If you're fast enough you can find the missing SAS operative waiting downstairs. It is even possible to knife him without failing the mission.
 * Mile High Club may be connected to Modern Warfare 2, because the terrorists in the level may have been the terrorists going up the elevator at the airport.


 * The plane in Mile High Club likely crashed because everyone on board is most likely dead including the pilots and may also possibly be a reference to the 9/11 attacks on the US.


 * At 1:22.08 in the Modern Warfare 2 trailer if you analyze it on Modern Warfare 2.com you can see a part of a plane possibly the one that was going down at the end of Mile High Club possibly meaning that Mile High Club is a preview of Modern Warfare 2. (unconfirmed, the plane on the trailer has a more detailed and different model)Plane_compare.png and the one in the MW2 Reveal trailer]]


 * Although something similar to this level could be part of Modern Warfare 2 it is highly unlikely that the plane in the teaser is from this level because a bomb destroys most of the plane at the end of the level, and also it has been confirmed that the airport seen in the teaser is Russian, meaning the British SAS would not be called to handle it


 * If you go prone and crawl next to one of the civilian corpses, you'll notice that their graphics are really blocky and unrealistic.


 * In this level if you look at one of the SAS you will see he has a suppresed M4A1 and a shotgun on his back just like Gaz in the mission "Crew Expendable". He also has the excact same black kit as Gaz in "Crew Expendable".


 * This mission is possibly happened before (but was not part of the game's mission) and was "remembered" by Soap when he was in the hospital after the mission Game Over. After all, people who (are going to) die usually like to remember their past, however... Soap doesn't die.


 * You can see the Bomb after rescuing the hostage. It is identical to the one in Search and Destroy.


 * It is questionable why they didn't just throw the bomb off the plane and land it somewhere.


 * The one that says " My name's not Shirley" sounds like Soap from the teasers (and gameplay) implying that you are "Roach" Sanderson.


 * Even if you swap your USP.45 for another gun in the level, you get it back for shooting the enemy with the hostage.


 * Strangely, when you are jumping off the plane, even if you are jumping in a face-down motion, when you are falling you have your back to the ground.