Come From Away is based on the real events from the town of Gander, Newfoundland, directly following the September 11 attacks. Early that morning, the Federal Aviation Administration decided to shut down its airspace, forcing thousands of planes to land at nearby airports. This caused a total of 38 planes carrying 6,579 passengers and crew to be grounded in the small city of Gander. This would be one of the locations that would later be known as Operation Yellow Ribbon.
 

The objective of Canada’s Operation Yellow Ribbon was to drive as much air traffic out of the United States as possible. This would help minimize the potential damage and loss of life that could occur from using the aircraft as a weapon against the U.S. Thus, airports and military bases across Canada opened themselves to planes needing to be grounded in a desire to help their southern neighbors.​