Name Richard Hayes Role Helicopter Pilot | Date knighted 2014 | |
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Sir Richard "Hannibal" Hayes, KNZM, is a New Zealand helicopter pilot. With over 30,000 flying hours, he is among New Zealand's most experienced pilots. He is the CEO of Southern Lakes Helicopters, a helicopter transport provider based in Fiordland.
Although primarily a helicopter tour guide, Hayes is known for his search-and-rescue feats. He has participated in numerous emergency flights, including searching for survivors during the sinking of Kotuku in the Foveaux Strait and assisting with the 2013 search of a crashed plane on the slopes of Mount Elizabeth in Antarctica. In 2007 he received the Federation Aeronautique Internationale Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship. In 2008, he famously saved his company's flagship helicopter, averting a disastrous crash by landing it "like a fixed-wing aircraft" at 80 knots of ground speed.
In 2001, he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In 2014, he was knighted and made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.