TRACON controller reported a pilot advised of intent to land on highway due to engine malfunctions.

Attributes
ACN	1702621
Time
Date	201911
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

I was working non-radar approach control. Aircraft X keyed up and informed the local controller his engine was hiccupping. He then announced he was going to land on [the] highway. The supervisor that was present coordinated all of the phone calls; paperwork and log entries.[I recommend] better aircraft maintenance. This aircraft flies almost on a daily basis. It has had numerous incidents in the past due to poor maintenance. It has frequent radio failures and maintenance related problems. It continues to fly and none of these problems seem to ever get resolved. I do not believe the company renting out this aircraft is interested in fixing these problems.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller reported a pilot advised of intent to land on highway due to engine malfunctions.

Narrative: I was working Non-Radar Approach Control. Aircraft X keyed up and informed the Local Controller his engine was hiccupping. He then announced he was going to land on [the] highway. The Supervisor that was present coordinated all of the phone calls; paperwork and log entries.[I recommend] better aircraft maintenance. This aircraft flies almost on a daily basis. It has had numerous incidents in the past due to poor maintenance. It has frequent radio failures and maintenance related problems. It continues to fly and none of these problems seem to ever get resolved. I do not believe the company renting out this aircraft is interested in fixing these problems.

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.