Around 4:45 a.m, the double-decker bus operated by Greyhound departed from Knoxville en route to Roanoke, Virginia.
The bus had traveled eastward along US-11W for 42.4 miles in 50 minutes, averaging a speed of 50 miles per hour.
The tractor-trailer had departed at 8:53 a.m. on the previous day from a manufacturing facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, en route to Memphis.
The tractor-trailer had driven 517 miles west in a period of 20.5 hours before reaching the site of the accident.

The Greyhound bus had approached the site tailing a slow-moving car in the eastbound lane around 5:35 a.m. The bus then attempted to pass the automobile by crossing into the oncoming westbound lane, into the path of the tractor-trailer.
The two vehicles then collided head-on at a combined speed of 100 miles per hour, killing the truck driver, bus driver, and 12 of the bus's passengers instantly.
Around 4:45 a.m, the double-decker bus operated by Greyhound departed from Knoxville en route to Roanoke, Virginia. The bus had traveled eastward along US-11W for 42.4 miles in 50 minutes, averaging a speed of 50 miles per hour. The tractor-trailer had departed at 8:53 a.m. on the previous day from a manufacturing facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, en route to Memphis. The tractor-trailer had driven 517 miles west in a period of 20.5 hours before reaching the site of the accident.
The Greyhound bus had approached the site tailing a slow-moving car in the eastbound lane around 5:35 a.m. The bus then attempted to pass the automobile by crossing into the oncoming westbound lane, into the path of the tractor-trailer. The two vehicles then collided head-on at a combined speed of 100 miles per hour, killing the truck driver, bus driver, and 12 of the bus's passengers instantly.
1972 Bean Station, Tennessee bus crash