OSLO (Reuters) - 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 which was flying seven passengers from Narvik to Bodoe in northern Norway.

Passengers said the attacker, in his 30s, stood up without warning just minutes before the plane landed and walked to the open cockpit to attack the pilots. Some passengers screamed in fear but two others managed to overpower him.

"The situation was highly dramatic. The plane was only 100 feet off the ground when the pilots were attacked. They fought off the attacker while trying to gain control over the plane," said police official Margrete Torseter.

"It is a miracle that the outcome was not worse," Torseter told a news conference.

The motive for the attack was not clear but police said it could be tied to the man's asylum status.

The attacker, who was born in 1970 and had been living at a northern Norwegian center for asylum seekers, was arrested at Bodoe airport. Police said authorities had rejected his application for asylum.

He had probably carried the axe on board, contrary to earlier information that it was part of the aircraft's emergency equipment, police said.

THUMBS-UP SIGN

"Suddenly I heard someone cry out: "Come and help," said passenger Irene Lokland, 45. "I thought we were going to die. I was picturing my three children in my mind," she told Norwegian NRK radio.

She said she was one of two passengers who helped hold the attacker down until the flight landed and police dragged him out of the plane.

Witnesses said the injured pilots gave a thumbs-up signal to the passengers to let them know that they would land safely after warning the air control tower about the attack.

They said they were convinced the man had been trying to crash the plane.

Norway's state air control firm Avinor said security at the small Narvik airport was less strict than at bigger airports with direct international flights, but had been due to be upgraded on Jan. 1, 2005.

"We don't know how he got the axe on board. He is at the police station now, not physically hurt," Torseter told Reuters.

The Nordland hospital in Bodoe said the three injured men, aged between 30 and 45, were being treated for head injuries. One had a deep cut in the forehead.