Back in prehistoric Helicopter days, I was a volunteer crewman on Belvederes, in the days before it was an established aircrew position, about half a dozen of us airframe and engine men did this as a bit of a change from our normal duties.
In 1963, we were on a major exercise flying from Dartmouth Naval college to ships at sea. I was lumbered with flying from HMS Hermes with Lord Mountbatten and about 16 Generals, Admirals, and Air marshals. There was also a government minister who I think was Roy Jenkins. They all got on the aircraft sitting in troop seats, with lifejackets on apart from the minister who did not have one. A lifejacket was passed up from the deck, and he put it on, but did not fasten up the front buttons. I was sitting in the crew seat, with Mountbatten sitting across looking at me, so I thought I cannot let this guy fly without the lifejacket done up properly, otherwise if we go into the water it will just float off.
So in front of the Lord, and lots of top brass looking at me, I had to try and stuff a well wined and fed government minister into his lifejacket. The buttons would not do up across his ample middle, so I had to reach across his back to release the straps, all the while being observed by the biggest collection of brass I had ever seen.
If that aircraft had gone down, the UK would have been without a defence organization.