Objective: to characterize the care given to the elderly by an aeromedical service in the south of Brazil. Method: a descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study was performed. The data were collected from reports of care of the elderly between July 2014 and June 2016, and were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics with numerical measures and descriptive charts. Results: of the 1071 care visits performed, 214 (19.9%) were related to occurrences involving the elderly, the majority of whom were male (64.5%) and aged between 60-64 years (29%). The types of care were classified into clinical, trauma or inter-hospital transfer. With respect to clinical care, cardiorespiratory arrest was the most prevalent incident (35.9%), while in trauma care falls were the most frequent occurrence (48.9%). The highest percentage of visits occurred on Sundays (18.7%). In the majority of cases care resulted in referral to reference hospitals (69.63%), followed by visits that evolved to death in the case of 47 elderly persons (21.96%). Conclusion: the findings of the present study represent a relevant contribution to the planning and implementation of care for elderly persons in an emergency situation receiving treatment from an aeromedical service.