Runway Finale

The Runway Finale is the fifth and final chapter of the third campaign, Dead Air.

The survivors reach the airport runway in time to see a Commercial Airliner (presumably with its passengers all infected) crash. They then make their way towards a waiting Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport on the runway and establish radio contact with the pilot.

The ground team of the airport seem to all be dead or infected - the Pilot informs the survivors that the plane is in desperate need of refueling. After opening a valve on a connected fuel tanker, the plane begins to re-fuel and the pilot gives the group notification as the tank begins to fill.

The survivors must hold out until the plane is air-worthy against waves of common Infected, several  Tanks and other  Special Infected. A minigun turret helps in this regard.

Eventually, the plane is filled with fuel, the engine starts, and the survivors must board the plane from the opened hatch at the rear, evading a final rush of Infected. Success grants a view of the plane's successful departure, followed by the display of the campaign credits.

Closet Method
There is a small closet in the building to the far left of the Minigun (if you are manning it). If possible, have two people armed with pipe bombs, and two with Molotovs. When the fuel is started, have everyone hide in the closet, with the people in front crouching so the people behind can shoot over them easily. The closet will funnel the infected and make it easy to mow them down, and make it hard for special infected to get to the survivors. If someone is grabbed by a smoker, melee them immediately so they do not get pulled from the closet. Use a pipe bomb if the horde starts to overwhelm the survivors. When the pilot announces the plane is half-full, exit the closet and prepare to face a tank. If you have Molotovs, light the tank on fire, and then just run from it until it burns to death. Use this time to also restock on ammo, grenades, and health if need be. Once the tank is dead, get back into the closet and fight off the common infected until the pilot announces the plane is almost full. Exit the closet again for the 2nd tank fight; burn it to death if possible. Once the tank is dead, get to the back of the plane and hold off the infected until the ramp is lowered.

Boarding Gate Method
There is a boarding gate similar to the one the survivors enter the level on with that has an access ladder. The survivors can camp this terminal, funneling the undead. When a tank comes, the survivors need to jump on to an aircraft's wing on their right and follow it into open ground, where the tank can be more easily dealt with. Rinse and repeat. Note: there are a number of walls on the terminal which can be broken by any infected as well as the hunting rifle.

Runway Method
Another uncommon method is to get all four survivors to stand out in the open space at the back of the map where the "Do not cross" tape is. There are 4 points from which hordes will come from: One on the left behind the tape, two directly ahead around the fueling plane and one to the right of the truck (sometimes filled with gas canisters). The team should camp here until it is time for the Tank to appear and then circle around the fueling plane to avoid the Tank's rock throws, though this method is more effective with a Molotov it also works well using only weapons to defeat the Tank.

Tanker Method
An easy method is to climb on top of the tanker and post a player on each end. Or have two on the ground and two up top till the plane fuels.

Tail Wing Method
There is half of a crashed plane adjacent to the tunnel used in Tactic 2. Have all four survivors climb up the tail and stand on the end of the plane next to the tunnel. One person should have a sniper rifle to deal with special infected (smokers can still get to you, and boomers can vomit on you from the tunnel), but the horde can only come up the tail of the plane, making them easy to deal with.

Mud Mound Method
Behind the fueling plane is a large mound of what appears to be mud. Have all four survivors climb this mound until they reach the fence. From here they can pick off the hordes with ease. It is a good idea to have one Survivor on Smoker lookout. When the Tank comes just run to the fueling plane and crouch down. The Tank will try to run through the plane allowing the Survivors to take leisurely shots at its ankles until it goes down. If you are quick enough you should also be able to run to the fueling truck and restock on ammo and supplies.

Trivia

 * At the part where the plane crashes, if you listen carefully, you can hear the roaring or growling of a Tank. It can be a tank or simply the metal of the plane twisting upon impact.
 * Some other rumors on the crash reveal that only the pilots were Infected, resulting in loss of control of the plane and its ultimate crash. Another possible reason of its crash is that a passenger that had gotten through airport security was in the early stages of infection, and subsequently led to the crash of the airliner.
 * The plane crash is considered the best "wow" moment in the game.
 * Inside the safe room where the survivors begin, the player can usually see a box sitting on a table which advertises Valve's video game, Team Fortress 2. This also has an Easter egg as the box says collect all 10, seeing that there are only 9 classes in Team Fortress 2.
 * This finale is the only one to give a reason for a horde to be summoned (the racket of the plane being fueled.) In all other finales, no reason is given for the massive attack after calling the rescue vehicle.
 * If one forgets to close the door after everyone has exited the safe room and the team has decided to stay near it for a certain amount of time, the Director has a higher chance of spawning special infected most commonly a smoker and a boomer inside the safe room itself.
 * Standing right in front of the plane crash can damage the player, especially in versus mode. A average of 20-25 damage is taken if the player stands right in front of the crash, trying to collect debris.
 * It could be assumed that when the plane landed there were still some non-infected personnel at the airport, as the fuel line is connected to the plane. It seems that the person with the radio lying dead against the fuel tanker was still alive when the plane had was at the airport, as the radio is connected to the cockpit and he is next to the already connected fuel pipe but it looks like the infected got him before he could turn it on.
 * One humorous and somewhat ironic thing to note is that the sound of a plane crashing does not draw zombies, but the sound of a fuel pump/engine starting up will.
 * The fuel pumper is a diesel tanker, made by the "SEALT" corporation. the name and logo is a combination of chevron and shell gasoline.
 * Another theory towards the crash of the plane is that either a passenger or one of the pilots were not infected and tried to land the plane, but were overpowered by either infected themselves or the infection resulting in a loss of control and crash.