Gentlemen:
The question was asked, why declare a maday when pressurization failed at 17,000 ft when the writer survived a de-pressurization at FL250 in IMC?

My answer is that my proposed route of flight would have involved altitudes in excess of 15,000 MSL for 1.5 hrs and it was dusk.  Conversely, Tahoe was 8 miles behind me.  I made the choice not to continue on at night over mountins in an aircraft which had demonstrated a malfunction.  My reasoning was that if this went wrong something else might also.   The NTSB reports are full of guys who pressed on despite failing systems and I chose to attempt to avoid being one of those guys.

Why the mayday...because I was taught it brought you immediate attention from ATC, got everyone else out of the way and gave you the quickest access to getting on the ground.

The night spent in Tahoe with no coat, no toothbrush and my wife giving me a hard time for getting stuck away from home in "that dammed airplane" was anything but enjoyable but compared to the possible alternatives.....

My hats off to the guy who lost pressure at FL250 in IMC and shot the approach.  You are obviously very capable and pulled it off.   I took the conservative route because I do not feel I have the experience to be expanding my personal flight envelope beyond very conservative limitations.

Regards,


Dave Riggs