What about the maintenance that was performed on it prior to that
accident?
Sure, the most dangerous aeroplane to fly is one that has just come from a "routine", time-dictated, maintenance programme ! They may not have been "broke" but were "fixed" - regardless, and without in any way blaming any engineers, they are human like the rest of us and make mistakes - sometimes.
Not saying, but it could well have been a factor.
Remember the "spacer" that was allegedly (?) left out of the French Concorde wheel following maintenance just before the fatal crash ?