Boscawen pilot was a Unabomber target

Don Tynan can feel a little more at ease the next time he opens a package.

The suspected Unabomber has been caught and Tynan can now also reveal where he lives, Boscawen.

Before yesterday, Tynan, who piloted one of the Unabomber’s first airline targets, kept his address unlisted. Now he’s relaxed.

“I didn’t reveal my address because it seemed like the prudent thing to do,” Tynan, who is 64, said. “When you have an unknown quantity out there you should take certain steps. You never know what he’s capable of or what he thinks. Now that’s over with.”

Investigators believe the Unabomber placed the two bombs in the baggage pod of the Boeing 727 that Tynan flew for American Airlines on Nov. 15, 1979. One ignited but never exploded.

The ignition caused a fire throughout the aircraft, forcing Tynan to make an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

No one was seriously injured but 12 people were treated for smoke inhalation.

Investigators discovered a second bomb programmed to go off when the planted reached 30,000 feet. The 727 never reached that high. Last year, Tynan learned the flight was the Unabomber’s third target.

Yesterday, he rejoiced.

“Personally, I never thought he was seriously after me, but there is a tad amount of relief,” he said. “It chilled the spirits of the whole country having this mystery out there, and it’s great that they caught him. He really kept this country all riled up for too many years and brought a lot of grief to a lot of people.”