SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - What was supposed to be an enjoyable 10-minute tour of the skies over Lutsel K'e turned into a frightful ordeal for a mother as she watched the plane carrying her young son fly past the airport's runway and off into the horizon, not to return Friday.

Four-year-old Hawke Finn Williams Ellis had quite the adventure on Friday when the single-engine plane he was in had to make an emergency landing at the Yellowknife Airport. Here, Hawke is all smiles with airport firefighter Charles Bourassa shortly after the plane landed. - Photo courtesy of Steve Ellis

"Finally, after about 30 minutes, (we realized) they've gone to Yellowknife. Something is wrong (and) we don't know what," said Tracey Williams, the mother of four-year-old Hawke Finn Williams Ellis. She and her husband Steve Ellis raced home and started frantically making phone calls to find out what was happening. Finally, they were able to reach the pilot who told her the plane's throttle had malfunctioned and he had to make an emergency landing in Yellowknife with the plane's engine shut off.

The Mooney single-engine aircraft landed safely at around 1:30 p.m. at the city's airport. Williams said the pilot is known to the family and had been in Lutsel K'e on business when he offered to take Hawke for a plane ride above the community. She said her son wasn't traumatized by the experience and enjoyed spending time with the airport's firefighters and pilots at Buffalo Airways.

"It was an exciting event for him," she said.

But this was only the beginning for Hawke and his family. He was quickly booked on a flight back to Lutsel K'e that afternoon; however, after circling the community's airport twice, the scheduled Air Tindi flight had to turn around and head back to Yellowknife because of poor visibility due to an unexpected snowstorm that swept into the area.

"It was a comedy of errors that never seemed to end," said Williams, who then had to get back on the phone and try to find a place for her son to stay the night in Yellowknife. She managed to reach one of her friends, who picked up Hawke at the airport, and put him up for the evening. Hawke finally made it home on Saturday at around 2:30 p.m.

"It was a long, seemingly never-ending weekend of worry. It was quite the time for us," she said.

Although her son was in good spirits, she said he started to get tired and weary toward the end.

"It was a little much," she said. "When he got home, he was pretty exhausted." Regardless, she said she was pleased with the pilot's skillful emergency landing. "Otherwise, we'd be in a whole different scenario here talking about this," she said.

She was especially proud of how her son, who she describes as a "plane fanatic," behaved throughout the ordeal.

"He was really good, and that's what everyone said. He kept a level head, and maybe we've got the makings for a pilot," she said with a laugh.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.