Paul Tomblin wrote:


They don't want the AIRSPEED so they can check your math, they want it for
separation purposes.

That's what they tell you. If you lose comm but your transponder still
works life is golden for the controller. Lose the transponder too and
we'll use primary radar, although that makes the workload for the
controller go up significantly. Lose radar and ATC will essentially
clear a route for you. But no way, no how will the controllers call
AFSS, get your filed airspeed and/or ETE and simply wait for that time
to pass before resuming normal operations. Normal ops will not commence
until we know where you are.