Although the horrifying incident occurred around 9.30 last night, search and rescue teams did not find the man’s body until 5.00 this morning, following an extensive search of the area.

A police spokeswoman said, “The 39-year-old man boarded a Dornier G92 plane at Strathallan Airfield, along with 14 other parachutists, at around 9.15 last night,” she explained.

“As the man left the aircraft, somewhere over the Strathallan area, he appeared to become detached from his parachute equipment and fell around 2500ft to the ground.”

“A specialist search and rescue dog team, assisted by a helicopter and crew from RAF Kinloss, searched the area throughout the night and the man’s body was found at 5.00 this morning in the area of West Mains Farm,” the police spokeswoman said.

“There are no apparent suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident and, as with all sudden deaths, a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal in Perth.”

Alfie Ingram works with Tayside Mountain Rescue, and became involved in the incident shortly after midnight.

He said the grim discovery of the victim’s body was made in a field of oil-seed rape around a quarter of a mile from Strathallan Airfield.

“We were called out at about 00.10 and the brief was that at 9.30 last night a man had lost his parachute on the final run of the day,” he told the Evening Telegraph.

“A helicopter from RAF Kinloss flew over the scene in an attempt to narrow down the area where the man might have dropped.

“We then deployed five dogs to hopefully pick up a scent.

“While the dogs and helicopter searched the scene a video of the area was studied,” Mr Ingram continued.

“The search was eventually narrowed down and shortly after five, a body was spotted in a field of oil-seed rape by one of the helicopter crew. After the casualty was located and the man declared dead the team was stood down.”

“The dogs continued to search but it was an almost impossible task and they were stopped at 9.30am,” Mr Ingram said. “The equipment has not yet been found.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Skydive Strathallan, who operate Strathallan Airfield, said, “The British Parachute Association is investigating the incident on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority.”

Skydive Strathallan is run by its members. It is open every weekend of the year and makes around 10,000 jumps per year, with around 100 regulars skydiving at the airfield.

The group also provides skydiving instruction and trains more than 1500 people for their first jump each year.