KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The International Air Transport Association says the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane highlights the need for security improvements both in tracking aircraft and screening passengers before they board planes.

The global airline group said it is creating a high-level task force that will make recommendations by the end of the year on how commercial aircraft can be continuously tracked.

IATA director-general Tony Tyler told an industry conference Tuesday in the Malaysian capital that accidents remain rare, but “we cannot let another aircraft simply vanish.”

The 3-week hunt for Flight 370 has turned up no confirmed sign of the Boeing 777, which disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.