In the fall of 1976, a shocking incident occurred in Novosibirsk: an AN-2 pilot deliberately crashed at full speed into a five-story residential building. The pilot was a young aviator named Serkov, working for the West Siberian Directorate of Civil Aviation of the USSR. As a result of the collision, the pilot and several residents of the building died. Eyewitnesses claimed that the plane circled over the city for a long time, as if selecting a target. Investigators suggested that air ramming could occur in four cases: during military actions, due to technical failure, in a state of affect from alcohol or drugs, or due to a nervous breakdown of the pilot from personal problems. Since there were no military actions in Novosibirsk, the plane was operational, and the pilot was sober, it was assumed that Serkov had family issues. This assumption turned out to be correct.

The situation became clearer when the police identified the pilot and the residents of the affected building. The plane crashed into the stairwell between the third and fourth floors of the building at: Novosibirsk, Stepnaya St. 43/1. One part of the plane fell onto the pavement, while the other scattered across apartments, causing a fire that affected about 30 apartments. The tragedy was caused by Serkov's separation from his wife, who left him, taking their two-year-old son Roma, and moved in with her parents. She refused to reconcile and did not allow Serkov to see the child. The pilot's nerves were frayed. He tried to talk to his wife, but she ignored him. Soon, she filed for divorce, and Serkov lost everything: his family and career. He was supposed to be appointed as a pilot for a major airliner, but the divorce could hinder that. Additionally, his superiors sent him on a business trip. Upon encountering his wife with another man, Serkov lost control and hit her. The fight continued in the apartment of his wife's parents until the woman's mother intervened.

Returning home, Serkov told his relatives about what happened and went to sleep. That night, he wrote a farewell note to his mother, stating that he was leaving and planned to take his wife and son. At 3:15 AM on September 26, 1976, he arrived at the airport, boarded the plane, circled the city a few times, and went for the ramming of the familiar building.

This case was not the only one. In 1954, in Novosibirsk, flight engineer Polyakov on an Il-12 planned a similar ramming for similar reasons. At that time, the management managed to persuade him to land the plane, and there were no casualties. Polyakov received three years in prison.

The building into which Serkov's plane crashed still stands, and some residents remember the nightmare of September 26, 1976. The top three floors of the building were restored shortly after the tragedy.