PA28 pilot reported an engine failure in the pattern that resulted in a return to the field.

Narrative:

The aircraft started to vibrate heavily; I noticed the engine sounded much louder than normal operation at cruise power of 2;400 RPM. The vibrations increased dramatically and I noticed that I had lost 80-100 feet of altitude and the engine RPM had reduced to around 2;000 RPM. I exercised the throttle forward to increase the power with the thought to regain altitude back to traffic pattern altitude and continue with ATC instruction of number 4 to land; however I noticed that I did not have the power requested and my RPM was gradually decreasing. I advised ATC that I had an engine failure and request direct to the runway as I did not want to risk being further out in the traffic pattern with an unsuitable area to perform an emergency landing.ATC cleared [me for] landing as I made the turn to runway 10R and squawked 7;700. I reduced my power to idle and established a glide approach of 73 knots before changing the fuel tank and exercising the throttle which was verified against my emergency checklist. The propeller did not stop however when any power was applied it was minimal and the vibrations were very heavy so I continued with a no power idle glide approach.after safely landing on the runway I rolled the aircraft to [the turnoff] upon which ATC advised me to contact ground. I stopped the aircraft and performed the after landing checklist and requested taxi. I did not require assistance to taxi as the engine continued to run but still very rough and loud. Upon returning it was assessed as cylinder failure.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA28 pilot reported an engine failure in the pattern that resulted in a return to the field.

Narrative: The aircraft started to vibrate heavily; I noticed the engine sounded much louder than normal operation at cruise power of 2;400 RPM. The vibrations increased dramatically and I noticed that I had lost 80-100 feet of altitude and the engine RPM had reduced to around 2;000 RPM. I exercised the throttle forward to increase the power with the thought to regain altitude back to traffic pattern altitude and continue with ATC instruction of number 4 to land; however I noticed that I did not have the power requested and my RPM was gradually decreasing. I advised ATC that I had an engine failure and request direct to the runway as I did not want to risk being further out in the traffic pattern with an unsuitable area to perform an emergency landing.ATC cleared [me for] landing as I made the turn to RWY 10R and squawked 7;700. I reduced my power to idle and established a glide approach of 73 knots before changing the fuel tank and exercising the throttle which was verified against my emergency checklist. The propeller did not stop however when any power was applied it was minimal and the vibrations were very heavy so I continued with a no power idle glide approach.After safely landing on the runway I rolled the aircraft to [the turnoff] upon which ATC advised me to contact ground. I stopped the aircraft and performed the after landing checklist and requested taxi. I did not require assistance to taxi as the engine continued to run but still very rough and loud. Upon returning it was assessed as cylinder failure.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1523862
Time
Date	201803
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Student
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical