Mention has been made of a previous tail strike.
This is the wiki report of the mid-air break-up of a China Airlines 747 in 2002. Described as the deadliest air disaster in Taiwanese history, the cause of which was metal fatigue consequent upon an inadequate repair following tailstrike damage which occurred 22 years earlier. The repair was not carried out in accordance with the Boeing Structural Repair Manual.
The break-up of the Boeing occurred some 20 minutes after take off whilst the aircraft was believed to be climbing to FL350.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_611