- Station: Flugplatz Jena-Schöngleina
- Missions 2025: 1,089 alerts
- Development: +12 percent compared to the previous year (2024: 976)
- Most common cause: Accidents during leisure, sports, school, and traffic (34%)
- Operational radius: approx. 70 kilometers around Jena
Jena-Schöngleina (11.02.2026) – When the characteristic rattling of rotors is heard in the sky above the Saaletal, every second often counts. For the crew of the rescue helicopter “Christoph 70,” the past year was particularly labor-intensive. The newly published annual balance from ADAC Luftrettung shows a significant increase in mission numbers for the Jena base.
A Significant Plus in Alerts
The flying emergency physicians from Flugplatz Schöngleina look back on a demanding year 2025. In total, “Christoph 70” took off for 1,089 rescue missions. Compared directly to 2024, when 976 missions were flown, this represents an increase of around twelve percent. This puts the station in Thuringia in line with a trend of continued high utilization of air rescue, which is often deployed where ground-based ambulances would take too long due to topography or distance.
The rescue helicopter is an indispensable part of emergency care in the region. Especially in rural areas around Jena, in the Saale-Holzland-Kreis and beyond, the helicopter guarantees that an emergency doctor reaches the patient as quickly as possible or that seriously injured persons can be gently transported to specialized clinics.
Accidents Remain the Number One Reason for Deployment
A look at the statistics reveals why the crew was alerted so frequently. As in previous years, injuries following accidents formed the largest block. Around 34 percent of all flights – more than every third mission – were due to injuries during leisure activities, sports, school, or road traffic. Particularly in the case of serious traffic accidents on the A4 and A9 motorways or on winding country roads, the helicopter is often the means of choice to quickly bring polytraumatized patients to a trauma center, such as the Universitätsklinikum Jena.
But it is not only external injuries that require rapid help from the air. Medical emergencies also accounted for a large part of the work:
- Cardiovascular diseases: 26 percent of missions involved acute heart attacks or cardiac arrhythmias.
- Neurological emergencies: Strokes and similar conditions accounted for 19 percent of flights.
- Respiration and organs: Respiratory problems (9 percent) and internal medicine diseases (5 percent) followed in the other positions.
These figures illustrate the role of the helicopter in the race against time. In the case of strokes and heart attacks, the so-called “Golden Hour” often decides survival and subsequent damage – here, the time advantage of air rescue is life-saving.
Operational Area Far Beyond Thuringia
Since January 1998, the station in Jena-Schöngleina has been operated by ADAC Luftrettung. The primary mission radius covers approximately 70 kilometers, which means that “Christoph 70” covers large parts of East Thuringia and adjacent areas. As expected, the majority of the 1,089 missions took place in Thuringia (983). However, air rescue does not stop at state borders: the Jena crew provided support 87 times in Sachsen-Anhalt, flew 13 missions in Sachsen, five in Bayern, and one in Hessen.
Nationwide Trend: More Flights at Twilight
While mission numbers in Jena rose, they remained at a consistently high level nationwide. ADAC Luftrettung responded to 48,908 missions across Germany in 2025. An interesting trend is emerging during off-peak hours: flights at twilight and in darkness have increased by five percent. This is made possible by state-of-the-art technology such as “Night Vision Imaging Systems” (night vision goggles), which allow landings even at unlit locations. Although “Christoph 70” is primarily known as a daytime helicopter, the entire rescue system benefits from these technical advancements, which increase supply security even in the evening hours.
For the people in Jena and the surrounding area, one certainty remains: when things get tough, the rescuers from Schöngleina are ready to provide rapid help from the air in 2026 as well.