The title "One of Our Aircraft is Missing" is taken from a phrase that was often heard in contemporary news reports in the UK after a bombing raid, "one often more of our aircraft failed to return", which originally served as the working title of the screenplay but was then altered to a less-downbeat form. Although the screenplay was not completely developed by the time of production, Powell considered it "half-finished ... it remained (that way) for most of the production." One of the reasons for continual revisions to the screenplay were the constant advances in wartime technology that were occurring.