Narrative:

I was flying heading 355 northbound towards the bay at 1100 feet; picking up the ATIS that was at that time information golf (G). Shortly after correcting the altimeter setting [while] listening [to] the ATIS; [I was] cruising at 2350 RPM with the mixture full rich position; the engine quit with a complete loss of power and the propeller at 1800 RPM with a complete engine silence. The nose of the aircraft was pitching down between five and ten degrees and my immediate action was [to] turn off in the audio panel comm 2 (ATIS). Comm 1 was already [on] ZZZ tower. During the engine silence; I said 'tower; aircraft X mayday mayday mayday' with my left hand on the [push to talk] and the right hand changing the fuel tank selector to right from both and mixture back 40 percent throttle full open.the event took place in the southern side of a hospital at 9 o'clock; the [highway had] plenty of cars both ways; and at 3 o'clock [there was a hotel]. After the mayday call; ZZZ tower called me back; and I had a lazy engine response at 950 feet altimeter indication and 90 of indicated airspeed. With the mixture back 40 percent; my full power setting was 2300 RPM when normally [it] is 2500. [The] aircraft was climbing slowly to 1500 feet to be in a safer altitude in case of another similar event. I was cleared to land runway xx straight in and the engine tried to quit two times during the approach in long final and in short final.next day I spoke to the technician and he told me in the phone call that he changed spark plugs and there was a carb heat wire malfunction and I understood that an intake tube was melted and it was changed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cessna 172 pilot reported a loss of engine power in flight.

Narrative: I was flying heading 355 northbound towards the bay at 1100 feet; picking up the ATIS that was at that time information GOLF (G). Shortly after correcting the altimeter setting [while] listening [to] the ATIS; [I was] cruising at 2350 RPM with the mixture full rich position; the engine quit with a COMPLETE loss of power and the propeller at 1800 RPM with a complete engine silence. The nose of the aircraft was pitching down between five and ten degrees and my immediate action was [to] turn off in the audio panel COMM 2 (ATIS). COMM 1 was already [on] ZZZ Tower. During the engine silence; I said 'TOWER; Aircraft X MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY' with my left hand on the [push to talk] and the right hand changing the fuel tank selector to right from both and mixture back 40 percent throttle full open.The event took place in the southern side of a hospital at 9 o'clock; the [highway had] plenty of cars both ways; and at 3 o'clock [there was a hotel]. After the mayday call; ZZZ Tower called me back; and I had a lazy engine response at 950 feet altimeter indication and 90 of indicated airspeed. With the mixture back 40 percent; my full power setting was 2300 RPM when normally [it] is 2500. [The] aircraft was climbing slowly to 1500 feet to be in a safer altitude in case of another similar event. I was cleared to land Runway XX straight in and the engine tried to quit two times during the approach in long final and in short final.Next day I spoke to the technician and he told me in the phone call that he changed spark plugs and there was a carb heat wire malfunction and I understood that an intake tube was melted and it was changed.

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.