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

 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 complete the mission "Game Over" and watch the credits until the end, or quit the credits and go to the Mission Select menu.

Infinity Ward has stated that the Special Ops missions in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were inspired by this mission.

Plot
The player is an unnamed Special Air Service operative battling through a double-decked aircraft to rescue a hostage in a set time limit. The time limit varies by difficulty: three minutes on Recruit, two minutes on Regular, one minute and 45 seconds on Hardened, and just one 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 operative will switch to the suppressed USP .45 but there is a glitch to use your primary done by switching to your secondary then as you switch to your secondary after the soldier opens the door you can switch 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 the user start over. Also, if attempting to shoot him in the legs, he spreads his legs out resulting in a miss and he knifes the hostage. A similar result can be seen if the terrorist is knifed. The player will then have 30 seconds to jump out of the plane by a breach with the VIP and the other SAS operatives.

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 (Sub machine guns, pistols, shotguns) are found on the level. The player starts with four flash grenades and can acquire more before the end of the level on a counter.

Achievements (Xbox 360)

 * Mile High Club 20 G — Skydive to safety on Veteran difficulty

Tips

 * Switching a weapon for one on the ground is faster than reloading, and can save tons of time.
 * Squadmates will pick off most enemies behind the player, but they will usually not kill enemies in front of or next to the player.
 * All concealment in the level can be easily penetrated.
 * Using a shotgun in Arcade Mode will greatly increase score.
 * Use flashbangs sparingly and at the right time on Veteran difficulty; otherwise the level is nearly impossible.
 * On a counter on the upper floor, there are more flashbangs that help a lot when playing on Veteran difficulty.
 * 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 not particularly small. In some cases, it can be more useful than a submachine gun or other fully automatic weapons.
 * Firing from the hip in close quarters can save valuable time.
 * On Veteran when a hole in the plane is breached the best thing to do is hide behind some seats and let some of the enemies get sucked out of the plane.
 * When trying to save the hostage on lower difficulties, just shoot the terrorist's legs repeatedly.
 * When saving the hostage on Veteran the head of the enemy is exposed completely if one waits until the last second.

Transcript
See Mile High Club/Transcript

Trivia



 * The terrorist holding Kriegler can be shot by other SAS if Kriegler escapes. Kriegler will escape if the player shoots the terrorist's gun or shoots the terrorist in the leg.
 * On Recruit difficulty, it is possible to survive the entire level without directly killing any enemies.
 * It is possible to get out of the plane from the breached wall (or at least die from it). Just crouch next to it and the game will say "Mission Failed", as the operative did not complete their objective.
 * According to the level's game script file (airplane.gsc; it's packaged with the mod tools), Gaz is present in the mission. Furthermore, 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 parachuuuuute...".
 * According to the "dev. only" missions when enabling the developer cheat via the console 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, thus 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 the player jumps forward continuously they will be right next to the hostage and have a much better view of the enemy with one to two seconds remaining.
 * 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!" In the mission Crew Expendable, the cargo containers with Chinese characters say Kreigler Transporting. It may be that this mission was originally intended to be a mission to capture Kreigler for interrogation about the nuke on his boat. 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.
 * The sound files also indicate that the hostage you rescue is Russian.
 * Kreigler is the name of someone in Infinity Ward's development staff.
 * The name Kreigler is seen on a billboard on the multiplayer map Highrise in Modern Warfare 2, and on a blimp in the Spec-Ops missions Suspension and Wreckage.
 * The name Kreigler is written on the trains in Modern Warfare 2's map's Derail, Underpass and Storm.
 * If the player stands right next to the C4 after Charlie One-One plants it, when it explodes they 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 reference to the parody-comedy film Airplane!.
 * Besides F.N.G. and Crew Expendable, this is the only mission with S.A.S. members donning the Black Kit.
 * Incorrectly regarded as a reference to Khaled 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 is Russian for "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 slang for engaging in sexual activity aboard an aircraft, which can be comically associated with military operations.
 * This is considered to be the hardest level on Veteran difficulty among the community.
 * When finished with 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. It was also used as the title for the first mission of Call of Duty: World at War. In Modern Warfare 2 There is a parody of this phrase, Sniper Fi, a Spec. Ops. mission where the player uses a sniper rifle.
 * It is strange the photo does not also say "Who Dares Wins" (the motto of the S.A.S.) considering there are British S.A.S. characters present.
 * The picture also has the caution "Heart breakers and life takers" which may or may not be a vague reference to the film Full Metal Jacket.
 * The player starts with four people in their squad: the player and three others. Once the hostage is rescued, there are only three people: the player and two others. If the player is fast enough they can find the missing S.A.S. operative waiting downstairs. It is even possible to kill him without failing the mission.
 * On the Wii version of the game, when the door opens and reveals the terrorist holding Kriegler, a voice saying "Drop the weapon! Down on the floor, now!" can be heard. However, this can also be heard on other platforms. By enabling the "Ragtime Warfare" cheat in the level, and just as the doors open turning it off, one can play the shooting sequence at normal speed, and can easily hear what everyone is saying. One of the S.A.S members will say the above line.
 * In this level if the player looks at one of the S.A.S. they will see he has a suppressed M4A1 Carbine 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." In reality, shooting a high powered rifle like the M4A1 would cause a hull breach when fired.
 * Even if the player swaps their USP .45 for another gun in the level, they will get it back for shooting the enemy with the hostage.
 * It's possible to switch to the primary weapon when shooting the final enemy, but only if switching to the USP .45 before reaching the final door.
 * At the end of the level, before the player jumps out, there is an S.A.S. operative waiting by the wall. It seems that he doesn't jump out at all.
 * At the end of the level, after the terrorist holding the hostage is killed, there will be dead civilians all over the room. The one in the pink shirt has Victor Zakhaev's face, probably an Easter Egg.
 * By enabling the noclip cheat on the PC version of the game, the player can move freely throughout the level: by exiting the plane the player can see that the outside of the plane model has no windows, and by going back up through the hole the S.A.S. cut and dropped through in the very beginning of the mission, the player will emerge in the room with the bomb. This means the S.A.S. somehow started out in the same room as the bomb but decided to go one floor down and fight their way back.
 * When the S.A.S. team jump out of the aircraft none of them are wearing a parachute, which could make for a very hard landing.
 * At the end of the level, when the player saves the hostage, if they get a headshot a pool of blood will form on the floor. This is similar to when Pvt. Roycewicz is saved in The Bog and Victor Zakhaev kills himself in The Sins of the Father, where blood puddles are only used when notable characters die.
 * The ending music in this level can only be found on the version of this game.
 * If the player shoots the windows in the first and final rooms with the MP5, orange spots will appear on the windows as if being shot with a paintball gun.
 * If the player shoots the captor in the leg or waist, he will drop his Mini-Uzi which can then be picked up.
 * The music heard throughout the level is a blend of all themes played during the campaign.
 * A small bomb icon can be seen on the mobile phone if the player goes prone on top of the brief-case.
 * If one throws a flashbang through the hull breach, the flashbang will just go the direction the player threw it, which is weird because it means the airplane is stationary. This was probably an error Infinity Ward overlooked.
 * Some enemies can be seen with AT4s on their backs, which is strange because firing such a weapon will devastate the plane.
 * After the player kills the person holding hostage, there is a guy in a pink shirt who looks like Zakhaev's son. The same thing happened in The Coup when a guy pops his head out of a dumpster. (This can be seen by looking closely).
 * The Wii version of the game lacks the ability to slow down and distort voices, which is why the player can hear a voice telling the terrorist to drop his weapon.
 * Even though the player starts out with both silenced weapons, this mission has nothing to do with stealth, which might mean that maybe Infinity Ward was originally planing to make this mission a stealth mission. However, the silencers could have been used to lower the weapon's velocities.
 * The HUD is the same as using Blast Shield in Modern Warfare 2.
 * The layout of the plane is very similar to that of Air Force One in the movie "Air Force One."

Videos
thumb|left|350px|Mile High Club completed on Regular on the Wii. thumb|right|350px|Mile High Club completed on Veteran on the PC. Note the intensity of the level compared to it on Regular difficulty