A rogue parachutist veered off course yesterday and smashed into an unsuspecting military brass band in Kansas, injuring three musicians and destroying two tubas.

Members of the 1st Infantry Division band, which was ready to perform for thousands of spectators, heard nothing but a brief rustling of the jumper's parachute before taking a direct hit from the human missile.

"We know that they're going to be all right," said General Charles Campbell, head of the Army's Forces Command, who was overseeing the military event.

Sgt. Rachel Boggs was knocked unconscious and suffered a fractured jaw after the aerial assault. Her fellow band member Sgt Andrew Spinazzolla suffered a fractured ankle as well as minor neck and head injuries. Staff Sgt Mark Lucero sustained a minor leg injury.

The parachute jumper had leapt from single-engine plane 6,000ft above Fort Riley. A fellow parachutist landed safely on the target, but the second man apparently became tangled in the parachute lines and lost control of his landing.

Scott MacDonald, the band leader, said he wondered at first whether there were enough members left to perform, but "we did soldier on” he declared after the 1st Infantry Division's band had played the Army's fight songs and then sounded a trumpet cavalry charge.

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