A C172 pilot reported loss of engine power. He diverted to the nearest airport and landed safely.

Attributes
ACN	859558
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 73 Flight Crew Total 645 Flight Crew Type 167
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

While in cruise at 3500 ft MSL the engine began to loose power and shake in a violent way. I immediately ran the engine out checklist which did nothing to solve the problem. I pulled the power to idle and decided to glide to the nearest airport. I was having trouble with the radios at first and descended towards the airport traffic pattern. I finally got ahold of approach and stated the nature of my problem; and I told them I was setting up for a straight in. Approach informed me that runway was closed so I elected a modified base entry for another runway; opposite of the direction of landing and departing traffic. Approach cleared me to land and I made an uneventful landing. I cleared the runway and was met by fire\rescue and local sheriff deputy.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C172 pilot reported loss of engine power. He diverted to the nearest airport and landed safely.

Narrative: While in cruise at 3500 FT MSL the engine began to loose power and shake in a violent way. I immediately ran the engine out checklist which did nothing to solve the problem. I pulled the power to idle and decided to glide to the nearest airport. I was having trouble with the radios at first and descended towards the airport traffic pattern. I finally got ahold of Approach and stated the nature of my problem; and I told them I was setting up for a straight in. Approach informed me that runway was closed so I elected a modified base entry for another runway; opposite of the direction of landing and departing traffic. Approach cleared me to land and I made an uneventful landing. I cleared the runway and was met by fire\rescue and local sheriff deputy.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.