Auburn to honor fallen Air Force Maj. Alex Klinner with pregame flyover

AUBURN, Ala. (WSFA) - Auburn University will honor fallen U.S. Air Force Maj. Alex Klinner on Saturday with a pregame flyover.

Klinner, an Auburn native and university graduate, was one of six airmen killed in a refueling aircraft crash in Iraq in March.

Four F-35 Lightning II fighter jets from the 187th Fighter Wing Alabama Air National Guard will be flown by Auburn graduates before the Tigers’ game against LSU, Auburn Athletics said.

Klinner graduated in 2016 with a degree in mechanical engineering and commissioned into the Air Force in 2017 through Auburn’s Reserve Officer Training Corps. He served as an evaluator pilot and chief of squadron standardizations and evaluations with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, logging hundreds of combat and combat-support hours across multiple deployments.

He is survived by his wife, Libby, and their three young children.

Members of the Klinner family will join Auburn Athletics and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering for a special presentation, as a scholarship has been established in his honor.

The scholarship will support future Auburn mechanical engineering students in Air Force ROTC who “embody the excellence, leadership and commitment to service that defined Maj. Klinner.”

Details about how to support the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board Major Alex Klinner Memorial Endowed Scholarship can be found on the university’s website.

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