# Incident 19961116039989I: Cessna TU206B, Hazleton, PA, November 16, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 16, 1996, 13:08 local time
- Place: Hazleton, PA
- Airport: Hazleton Municipal Airport
- Phase of flight: Parachute Jumping
- Operating rules: Parachute jumping (Part 105)
- Location: 40.9868° N, 75.9947° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at HAZLETON RGNL (HZL), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.9868&lon=-75.9947&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3809G, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N3809G-1997-11-14) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna TU206B (registry code 2073324, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-tu206b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA TU206B
- People aboard: 5
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 1,160 total, 50 in this make and model, 60 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19961116039989I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: AFTER A FREE FALL JUMP FORMATION, MR. NICK LABASSI DEPLOYED HIS CHUTE. ANOTHER JUMPER WHO WAS ABOVE AND BEHIND INTERFERED WITH MR. LABASSI'S CHUTE CAUSING IT TO DEFLATE AND WRAP AROUND MR. LABASSI. HE THEN TRIED TO DEPLOY HIS EMERGENCY CHUTE BUT COULD NOT UNTIL 300' ABOVE THE GROUND, BECAUSE THE SPORT CHUTE WAS WRAPPED AND TANGLED DUE TO THIS SPINNING. MR. LABASSI LANDED IN A CREEK, WHICH SOFTENED HIS IMPACT CAUSING SERIOUS INJURIES TO HIM. MR. LABASSI IS A CLASS A LICENSED U.S.P.A. JUMPER WITH 75 JUMPS LOGGED. HE IS A MEMBER OF THE NORTHEAST PA RIPCORDS, HAZLETON, PA. THE PARACHUTE DID NOT MALFUNCTION AND IS A DEJANGO FIREFLY, SER. NO. 23300. THE CHUTE WAS REPACKED ON AUGUST 17, 1996 BY DAVID SINGLEY, RIGGER L#196468017 SEAL QHG. MR. NICK LABASSI ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ WE CONSIDER THIS MATTER CLOSED.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.