Originally Posted by Paris
These are two different things.
No they're not. How ATC work out what altitude to descend you to is not relevant. The fact is they can't descend you to an altitude that would take you below safe terrain clearance in any scenario. Yes, I have heard them say "descend to 7100ft radar terrain" but that doesn't mean that if they say "descend to 7100ft" when not identified you have to organise your own terrain clearance. Now, they might stuff up and say "descend to 7100ft" when the MSA is 7500ft; that is an error on their part and why it is wise to keep a track of where you are, terrain-wise, but identified or not, they shouldn't descend you below the appropriate MSA: the surveillance MSA or the sector MSA, if not identified.