Scaredy-Cat’s Guide To Skydiving | Jonathan Welsh | Wall Street Journal | 21st April 2016

It’s an exciting sport but no longer a dangerous one. Modern kit is foolproof. If you panic during the descent, an “automatic activation device” will open your parachute in time A jump from 14,500 feet lasts six to eight minutes, including one minute of free-fall. “After leaving the plane, you accelerate to around 110 mph and the skin on your face starts stretching and distorting as you fall about 1,000 feet every six seconds”