Lucky Devil parachutist survives

The paired flyers descending.

A Red Devil parachutist had a lucky escape when his chute failed to open at an air show — leaving a teammate to catch him in mid-air and bring him to safety.

The British Army freefall parachute display team was performing at the Whitehaven Air Show on the Cumbrian coast yesterday when the chute failed.

Footage on social media showed the soldier descending with a teammate under his parachute and landing in the water.

A message later posted on the show's Facebook page, said: "We can confirm that the Red Devil parachutists are both safe and sound. For the first time in 25 years they had a parachute fail.

"One team member caught his teammate and brought him into Queens Dock. Our safety procedures worked perfectly and a huge thank-you to Whitehaven Marina for getting them out of the water so quickly."

People at the air show, which also included the Red Arrows, praised the men on Facebook.

Sarah David wrote: "Glad to hear both are ok, was awful watching them struggling, especially when they veered off course — until we realised they were purposely targeting the biggest area of water for ditching in to."

The Red Devils team was formed in 1963 and carries out more than 60 displays every year.

It comprises 12 serving soldiers from the three battalions of the Parachute Regiment, all of whom have to have at least three years' experience.

- AAP