Over at Drink-Soaked Trots, frustrated holidaymaker Eric objects to the pre-emptive arrest of the alleged terrorists:

“This all seems a counter-productive effort really. I mean actually arresting them before they actually carry out the attack may alienate these oppressed young men and further radicalise them. Not to mention that their civil rights have probably been infringed in the process of the investigation.”

The Freefall Research Page carries useful advice for those who might be inconvenienced by our taking a more sensitive approach to wannabe mass murderers:

“Much will depend on your attitude. Don’t let negative thinking ruin your descent. If you find yourself dwelling morbidly on your discouraging starting point of seven miles up, think of this: Thirty feet is the cutoff for fatality in a fall. That is, most who fall from thirty feet or higher die. Thirty feet! It’s nothing! Pity the poor sod who falls from such a “height.” What kind of planning time does he have?

“Think of the pluses in your situation. For example, although you fall faster and faster for the first fifteen seconds or so, you soon reach “terminal velocity”—the point at which atmospheric drag resists gravity’s acceleration in a perfect standoff. Not only do you stop speeding up, but because the air is thickening as you fall, you actually begin to slow down. With every foot that you drop, you are going slower and slower.

“There’s more. When parachutists focus on a landing zone, sometimes they become so fascinated with it that they forget to pull the ripcord. Since you probably have no ripcord, “target fixation” poses no danger. Count your blessings.”