History The first and founding member of the MHC is generally considered to be Lawrence Sperry <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Sperry>, inventor of the autopilot <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopilot>. In November of 1916<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916>he reportedly was engaged in sexual activity with a woman while he was flying in his Curtiss <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss> flying boat <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_boat> over Babylon, New York<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon%2C_New_York>, when they crashed (non-fatally) into the water. His status as founder of the club is a retrospective honor derived from the fact that he is the first person reported to have engaged in aerial sexual activity, and from his association with the development of the autopilot at Sperry Corporation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperry_Corporation> .
It is not a literal honor, since they crashed from an altitude of only 500 feet (152 meters), and also because the term "Mile High Club" was not in use at the time. Conversely, sexual activity on the ground at elevations of 5,280 feet (1609 meters) or greater, does *not* qualify one for the club, under most interpretations of the rules (though a popular joke in Denver, Colorado <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver%2C_Colorado>—the "Mile High City"—is to comment on being members of the Club). [*citation needed<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed> *] Usually, anyone who has had sex on an airplane is considered a member of the Club, though some may consider being a mile in the air as a requirement. The National Transportation Safety Board<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Transportation_Safety_Board>(NTSB) has ruled that at least one accident <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidents_and_incidents_in_aviation>was caused by a pilot engaging in sexual activity while piloting a small plane.[5] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_high_club#_note-NTSB> In November 2007, Singapore Airlines<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Airlines>asked passengers on its new Airbus A380 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380> plane not to 'join the club' even in its first class suites, each of which is partitioned off and some include a double bed. The airline gave as its reason the fact that the partitions are not sound-proof and the suites are not completely sealed, and they did not want any other passengers to be offended .[6]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_high_club#_note-0> [edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mile_high_club&action=edit§ion=2> ] Noted instances Some incidents of people attempting sexual activity on planes become popularly known: in late 2006, a couple was arrested in part for refusing to stop overt sexual activity on a flight in a case that received widespread media attention.[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_high_club#_note-newsitem1>The couple's lawyer claims that the couple was not engaging in sexual activity, but that the man was sick and resting his head on the woman's lap. Sir Richard Branson <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson>, the owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Atlantic_Airways>, claimed that he joined the mile high club at age 19 (c. 1969<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969>) by engaging in sex with a woman in a lavatory. He found out after the fact that she was married, and they had no relationship beyond the encounter in the plane.[8] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_high_club#_note-1> On February 11 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_11>, 2007<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007>, Lisa Robertson, a Qantas <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas> flight attendant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_attendant>, was dismissed after having sex with actor Ralph Fiennes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Fiennes>in a business class <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_class> lavatory during a flight from Darwin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%2C_Northern_Territory> to Mumbai <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai> on January 24<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_24>, 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007>. Robertson at first denied the allegation, but subsequently admitted the encounter in an interview with the *Daily Mail <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mail>*. She also said she had stayed with him at his Mumbai hotel.[9]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_high_club#_note-2>Fiennes has refused to comment on the matter. [10] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_high_club#_note-3>
