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AVIDWIZ@aol.com wrote:
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.
I would call that exercising good judgment. Unless I knew for sure what caused the loss of pressurization, I would not want to continue anywhere other than to the closest airport. Being on the ground and kicking yourself for being such a chicken is far better than kicking yourself for being so bold in continuing the flight being your final thoughts on this earth. Always remember that there are old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold pilots.
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. I think this the area where many people have disagreed with you. You have the absolute right to declare and emergence whenever you perceive an emergency to exist. Yet the overuse of the privilege by lots of people can lead to the boy that cried wolf syndrome. I have had a few hairy moments in the air, twice for a rough running engine (blocked fuel injector) and icing (rapidly picking up icing ice 1000 feet below the lowest altitude of the airmet), but calmly explaining my predicament to the controllers has gotten me all the service I needed. All 3 times I was ready to declare an emergency if I was given the run-around, but it was never needed.
My hats off to the guy who lost pressure at FL250 in IMC and shot the approach.
If you are in IMC, loose pressurization and have a nearby airport that is IMC, would you not shoot the approach? What are the options?
Hamid
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