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; this epilogue mission is unrelated to the storyline of the game's single-player campaign. 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.

Plot
The player is an unnamed Special Air Service operator battling through a double-decked aircraft (possibly an Airbus A380) to rescue a hostage in a set time limit. The time limit varies from difficulty: 3 minutes on Easy, 2 minutes on Normal, 1 minute 45 seconds on Hardened, and just 1 minute on Veteran. 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.

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). Infinity Ward has stated that this sort of level is similar to what you can expect in the Special Ops missions in Modern Warfare 2, which are also meant to be fast, stand-alone experiences.

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.
 * Using a shotgun in Arcade Mode will greatly increase your score.
 * Use flashbangs sparingly and at the right time, and remember them 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 on Recruit difficulty, it is possible to go through the entire mission without shooting an enemy, although enemies will follow you and may melee you if you get too close. Your teammates will usually eliminate the enemies you pass.
 * The USP .45 is severely underestimated in this level. It has a much faster reload time than any other weapon in the level, and its magazine size is enough to last you until you can get to cover. In some cases it can be more useful than an automatic weapon.

Xbox 360 achievements

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

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Trivia

 * You actually can get out of the plane from the breached wall (or at least die from it). You just crouch next to it and it says "Mission Failed", as you did not complete your objective.


 * According to the level's game script file (airplane.gsc; it's packaged with the mod tools), Gaz is present in the mission.


 * According to the level's game script file (airplane.gsc; it's packaged with the mod tools), the hostage says, "Please! Just don't hurt me. I want to go home. I just want to get out of here" and "What? No!... Wait! What are you doing? I don't have a parachuuuuuuute".


 * 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.


 * Infinity Ward has said that Mile High Club was a mission that they couldn't fit into the main story, but wanted to have in the game for players to enjoy, leading to the unused audio and (by that point in the game) deceased characters.


 * 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..


 * 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).
 * In the mission 'Crew Expendable', one of the containers in the ship hull has 'KREIGLER' written on it which may infer that Kriegler is a rich, company owning VIP. And also Mile High Club was intended to be put in the game before Crew Expendable.


 * 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.


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


 * 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!".


 * Information about the plane the level is set on can be found on an Emergency Card on a wall near the starting point of the mission.


 * Mile High Club is in fact slang for engaging in sexual activity aboard aircraft, which can be comically associated with military operations.


 * 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 motto of the United States Marine Corps, short for Semper Fidelis, which means "Always faithful" in Latin, and was also used as the title for the first mission of Call of Duty: World at War.


 * 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.


 * 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.


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


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


 * It's possible to switch to another weapon when shooting the final enemy (confirmed with the MP5)


 * If you watch the hostage taker he doesn't actually shoot the hostage, but the bomb behind the hostage and the hostage taker goes off instead.
 * If you can notice, at the start of the level there are 3 NPC SAS Commandos but, at the end, only the 2 (excluding you) ever get to the point of exiting the plane, the fate of this last commando is not known.