C150 pilot reported that a loss of engine power in cruise resulted in a diversion.

Attributes
ACN	1721664
Time
Date	202001
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZLA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 150
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine Air
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Air Traffic Control Non Radar 2 Air Traffic Control Radar 1 Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 1000 Flight Crew Type 350
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

I was VFR at 8500 when my aircraft experienced a sudden loss of power. I immediately applied carburetor heat and slightly enriched the mixture; which kept the engine running. Continuously tried a variety of settings with mixture; throttle; and carb heat. When carb heat was removed; the engine seemed to die. After a few minutes and a few hundred feet of descent; I definitively determined this was not carburetor icing and elected to divert to ZZZ airport and [advised ATC]. I suspected some sort of blockage; either to airflow or possible contaminated fuel (though I had sampled the fuel at the last point of departure with negative results). I was able to control the descent and land at ZZZ without incident; where I informed the controller of my safe arrival. A&P on field inspected the aircraft and found the intake air filter was clogged and replaced the filter which solved the problem; aircraft performed satisfactorily on further runup and was returned to service.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C150 pilot reported that a loss of engine power in cruise resulted in a diversion.

Narrative: I was VFR at 8500 when my aircraft experienced a sudden loss of power. I immediately applied carburetor heat and slightly enriched the mixture; which kept the engine running. Continuously tried a variety of settings with mixture; throttle; and carb heat. When carb heat was removed; the engine seemed to die. After a few minutes and a few hundred feet of descent; I definitively determined this was not carburetor icing and elected to divert to ZZZ airport and [advised ATC]. I suspected some sort of blockage; either to airflow or possible contaminated fuel (though I had sampled the fuel at the last point of departure with negative results). I was able to control the descent and land at ZZZ without incident; where I informed the Controller of my safe arrival. A&P on field inspected the aircraft and found the intake air filter was clogged and replaced the filter which solved the problem; aircraft performed satisfactorily on further runup and was returned to service.

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.