U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Alex Klinner, 33, died in a KC-135 crash in Iraq on March 12, 2026, along with five crew members, during a routine mission.

Major Alex Klinner, a 33-year-old Auburn University graduate and U.S. Air Force officer from Trussville, Alabama, died in a KC-135 refueling aircraft crash in western Iraq on March 12, 2026, along with five other crew members. The aircraft, part of a routine mission, went down during a refueling stop, with officials confirming no hostile or friendly fire was involved. Klinner, a mechanical engineering graduate from 2016, had recently relocated to Alabama with his wife and three young children and was serving in a deployment less than a week prior to the crash. The Pentagon and military leaders, including Senator Tommy Tuberville and Trussville Mayor Short, mourned his death as an "unimaginable loss," honoring his service, dedication, and family. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.