During the Cold War Tunoshna was a key interceptor aircraft base.

The regiment arrived at Tunoshna from Audun in China in March 1953.

On 7 September 2011, the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash occurred, killing nearly the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League professional ice hockey team.

A Yak-Service Yak-42, carrying the team to a game in Minsk, Belarus crashed on take-off from Tunoshna, killing 44 of the 45 occupants.

[7][8] The plane crashed and broke up approximately 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the end of the runway, at the Volga River.