One of the latest Kiwis to be knighted, Sir Richard Hayes is probably the only knight in the country with the nickname Hannibal.
"Arise, Sir Hannibal" has a nice ring to it for a rescue pilot with a history of talented and daring missions.
One of only a handful of Kiwi helicopter pilots to log 30,000 flying hours, Sir Richard "Hannibal" Hayes has been recognised "for services to search and rescue and the community". Made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001 for services to search and rescue, Sir Richard has continued his rescue missions in Southland, including several high-risk and high-profile flights.
He helped fight a "significant" Queenstown fire in 2005 and has been involved in a number of search and rescue operations in the Southern Ocean, including the search for survivors of the Kotuku sinking in Foveaux Strait in 2006 and the search for a Canadian Twin Otter plane that crashed on a steep slope near the peak of Mt Elizabeth in Antarctica.
He was nicknamed after Hannibal Hayes, one half of an outlaw duo trying to reform their ways in the 70s cowboy show Alias Smith and Jones. The TV Hannibal was infamous for all the wrong reasons; Sir Richard's fame has stemmed from his flying experience and daring rescues.