As SLF I once flew in some class of rust-bucket from Llilongwe to Blantyre.
We were brought to the plane in a trailer hitched to a tractor. It took fifteen minutes to get the door closed. Apparently there was a "knack" involved and the guy who had the "knack" was on sick leave that day.
In the safety announcement the pilot cautioned that we should observe the seat-belt signs, warning that those passengers in a listed number of seats should observe the signs in the adjacent seats as their bulbs were inoperative.
The airline took delivery of a new 737-400 during the trip (purely a vanity gesture for the Life President) and we used it for the return to Llinogwe. We didn't realise that His Excellency the Kamuzu, Life-President Dr Hastings Banda was on the flight (he was doubtless heading off to London forhis regular monnkey glands treatment). We were woring for the World Bank assessing some loans for the country, so we were pretty much Access All Areas, which I guess is why we were allowed on the flight.
On landing at Llilongwe we were told that His Excellency the Kamuzu blah blah was slightly indisposed and we could deplane. At the door we were met by the sight of a temporary stand with schoolgirls belting out the national anthem, while various dignitaries were ranged either side of a red carpet. Thankfully, they studiously ignore my colleague and myself as we basked in our VIP welcome.
The kids will have been standing in the heat for hours. That was the way. When Banda travelled through the cities all the kids were taken out of school to line the routes and sing - which they did beautifully.
They'd catch the merest glimpse of him in his open-top Rolls as he sped past at 80+kph.