Mile High Club (mission)

We're going deep, and we're going hard.

Surely you can't be serious?

''I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.''

Mile High Club is a bonus campaign level of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. To play the bonus mission players 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 an Airbus A380) 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 wound." and will make you start over. He 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 onboard 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 in the teaser you witness 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, although the player does start with 4 flash grenades (and can acquire more before the end of the level).

Tips

 * Your teammates will pick off enemies you have missed; however, don't rely on them too much.
 * 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.
 * Flashbangs are, "a HUGE gift from God" on Veteran diffuculty.
 * 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 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.

Trivia

 * If you play this on veteran, you must shoot the hostage taker on the head otherwise there's a message saying "Only Veterans can get Headshots" thus restarts the mission again.
 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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 another SAS man to grab hold of them and pull a parachute, in a military fashion.
 * When the mission 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.

here is a screenshot comparison of Gaz on Crew Expandable and an unnamed SAS soldier on Mile High Club. This isn't saying Gaz lived, but there is a soldier seen carrying a shotgun on their backs like Gaz did on Crew Expandable. However, it must be noted that Infinity Ward could have used the same character designs from Crew Expandable for Mile High Club, and is not saying Gaz is alive. He could be in the Mile High Club mission, though. But then again, Infinity Ward probably used the same character designs from the Crew Expandable mission.