The aviation history of the city began in 1910, when a city-based Corsican hotelier Giacomo D'Angelis built a biplane powered by a small engine in association with Simpson's, a leading coach-builder in the city. He tested it at Island Grounds at Madras, making it the first powered flight in Asia. Further flying displays were performed by a set of aviators including Baron de Caters and Jules Tyck in February 1911. J. W. Madley, a water works engineer with the Madras government, flew an aircraft he had assembled over the Red Hills reservoir and shot aerial photographs in 1914. In 1915, Tata Air Mail started an airmail service between Karachi and Madras, marking the beginning of civil aviation in South India. A discussion initiated by pilot G. Vlasto led to the founding of Madras Flying Club in March 1930. The first instructional flight took off from the airstrip in July 1930. Commissioned in 1930, Madras aerodrome was one of the first airports of India. On 15 October 1932, J. R. D. Tata flew a Puss Moth aircraft carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip. Piloted by aviator Nevill Vintcent, it continued to Madras and became the first scheduled flight to land at the airport. The first mail service to Colombo was operated by Tata in 1936, with regular mail and passenger service commencing later in 1938. Although commercial services came into operation earlier, the airport was confined mostly to military operations during World War II, when it became the base of Royal Indian Air Force. In 1952, the Civil Aviation Department took over the operations of the airport. The first passenger terminal was built in 1954 on the northeastern side of Meenambakkam, and the airport operated as a customs airport with limited international services. In 1972, the airport came under the purview of Airports Authority of India (AAI). An air cargo complex was commissioned on 1 February 1978, which was the second gateway air cargo terminal in the country, after Kolkata airport. In August 1984, a bomb blast near the airport killed 33 people and injured 27 others. The entire concourse was razed down and had to be rebuilt. The passenger operations were shifted to the new domestic terminal built at Tirusulam in 1985. An international terminal was added in 1989 and the old terminal building was used for air cargo. In November 1988, British Airways commenced services to Europe, flying to London's Heathrow Airport with Boeing 747s from April 1991. On 23 September 1999, a handling centre for flowers, fruits and vegetables was commissioned at the air cargo terminal. In 2001, the international airport became the first in the country to receive the ISO 9001-2000 certification. A new international departure terminal was commissioned in 2003. In May 2005, Delta Air Lines commenced the first direct flights to the Americas, connecting Chennai with New York City via Paris. In 2008, the AAI started a major modernisation project. Two new terminals (Terminal 1 and 4) were constructed, the existing international terminal (Terminal 3) was renovated, the secondary runway was extended, and new taxiways, parking bays and a fire station were constructed. In December 2015, unprecedented rainfall associated with India's Northeast monsoon caused extensive flooding of the airport tarmac and runways. As part of the airport is situated on the floodplains of the Adyar river, extensive waterlogging occurred in the airport. The airport was closed for a week to all traffic from 1 to 6 December. About 1,500 passengers and 2,000 airport workers were evacuated as water entered terminal buildings and 30–35 aircraft were stranded on the apron. Military authorities permitted the use of Naval Air Station INS Rajali in Arakkonam, 70 km (43 mi) west of central Chennai and Tambaram Air Force Station 20 km (12 mi) south as relief airports for a limited service of civilian commercial flights as well as official rescue/assistance flights.