OSLO, Sept 29: An Algerian-born man attacked two pilots and a passenger with an axe on a domestic Norwegian flight on Wednesday in an unexplained assault that police said could be linked to his asylum status.

The pilots, who witnesses said were covered in blood from head injuries, managed to land the small Kato Air plane flying seven passengers from Narvik to Bodoe in northern Norway.

"I am going to crash this plane," said the 34-year-old man before attacking just as the aircraft was about to land, only 30 metres off the ground, according to witnesses.

Passengers said the attacker stood up without warning and walked to the open cockpit to attack the pilots. Some passengers screamed in fear but two others managed to overpower him.

"It was highly dramatic. The pilots fought off the attacker while struggling to gain control of the plane," acting chief police officer Tone Vangen said. "It is a miracle that it did not end up in a crash."

The motive for the attack was not clear but police said it could be tied to the man's asylum status. He was confined to a psychiatric hospital late on Wednesday after his arrest at Bodoe airport.

The attacker had been living at a northern Norwegian centre for asylum seekers. Police said authorities had rejected his asylum application and he had been overdue to leave Norway.

He had probably carried the axe on board, police said, showing reporters a bloody axe with a wooden handle. In normally tranquil Norway, smaller regional airports with no direct international flights, such as Narvik, have limited security with no scanning of the luggage before boarding.

"The threat scenario has so far not been such that we have considered it necessary to have higher security," said spokeswoman Ann Marit Solbakken at state air travel operator Avinor. "After what happened today, we must reconsider." Avinor had been due to upgrade security at all its regional airports. -Reuters