On 8 March 2014, a Boeing 777 disap­ peared in flight with 239 people on board. So began the saga of Malaysia Airlines MH370 and its host of attendant questions. Three years on, no explanation has been found for this disappearance.

The Air and Space Academy {AAE) could not remain indifferent to such a dramatic event.

But what should be done? lt was not the role of AAE to involve itself in the investigation, nor did it have the means. lt could however take a systemic approach to examining the circums­tances behind the plane ‘s disappearance in order to suggest ways of enhancing air safety.

Dossier 41 presents the findings of a working group set up to look into questions concerning both the technical means enabling reliable positioning of aircraft in flight and the defini­tion of air-ground communication, with the aim of preventing any further cases of missing aircraft, seen as more and more unaccep­table by society as a whole.