A pilot on a commercial flight has used an axe to get a drunk passenger out of a bathroom mid-flight.

The incident happened when a 53-year-old male stopped answering cabin crew who were trying to get him to return to his seat.

With the crew unsure if the man, who had been drinking, was refusing to answer or had passed out the captain took an axe to the door of the toilet, NBC reports.

The co-pilot was forced to reduce the speed of the plane while the pilot tried to get the man out of the bathroom, according to a spokesperson from the Västernorrland Police.

Following a struggle the passenger was led back to his seat and the propeller plane landed safely in the eastern city of Örnsköldsvik.

Airport officials in Stockholm, where the flight departed from, said the man was sober enough to fly.

The police held the passenger after the landing, until his wife picked him up.