Princess Kate's life jacket inflated a little sooner and with more force than she expected. Photo / Getty Images
Princess Kate's life jacket inflated a little sooner and with more force than she expected. Photo / Getty Images
Kate Middleton laughed off a mishap with a lifejacket during a recent visit to a Royal Navy airbase.
As of last month, the Princess of Wales is commodore-in-chief of the Fleet Air Arm — and she recently visited an aircraft hangar at Yeovilton in the UK to observe personnel in action and try out a helicopter flight simulator, reports the Daily Mail.
Kate struggled to inflate an emergency lifejacket and burst out laughing while wearing it, as well as chatting with air traffic control staff and trialling a flight simulator.
It inflated rather faster and more forcefully than she appeared to be expecting, as she burst into nervous laughter before staff helped her take the lifejacket off.
Survival equipment technician Louise Evans-Hughes later said, “I told the princess there might be a bit of a bang because sometimes when the Velcro rips open there is a bit of a noise.
“I think that was why she was a bit apprehensive to pull it. As soon as she pulled it, it inflated.
Kate tries on an inflatable lifejacket during a visit to a Royal Navy airbase in Yeovilton. Photo / Getty Images
“I gave the princess the option whether she wanted to put it on or whether one of my colleagues would put it on. I didn’t know if she would or not, but it was really nice that she got hands on and got really engaged in what we do and making the kit work.”
Kate’s reaction wasn’t out of the ordinary, Evans-Hughes said. “I see it a lot when we train the air crew pilots so it’s something that I see all the time; so I knew what was going to happen and it was quite nice to watch her face.
“I think afterwards she said it was quite snug and didn’t realise how big it was going to go, and I quickly let some air out so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable.”
She added the princess was “really engaged, really excited and asking loads of questions ... it’s nice to be remembered and some of the things that you’re doing.”
Kate was pictured shaking hands with workers at the naval base and visited an aircraft’s cockpit, where she spoke with a pilot about the plane.
She then spoke to crew members aboard an airborne Wildcat flight, wearing a headset alongside an officer communicating with the crew.
While there, she had the chance to communicate with the crew members on board an airborne Wildcat flight. She went on to visit the Wildcat training centre and helped crews undergoing training to load an anti-shipping Sea Venom missile on board a helicopter.
She then got to try flying it in a simulator, which aircrew use for training.
