The deadly crash of an Air India flight carrying more than 240 people on Thursday arrives after years of efforts to turn around the country’s flag carrier — which had been plagued by tragedy and financial losses under prior state ownership.

The aircraft was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with over 8,200 flying hours, alongside First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours of flight time. The jet involved was delivered to Air India in January 2014, making it over 11 years old.