On July 13, 2006, about 0730 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 172E airplane, N5560T, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with a power line while maneuvering at a low altitude, about 3 miles northwest of Big Lake, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal local flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The flight departed Big Lake Airport, Big Lake, about 0700. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 26, an FAA air safety inspector said he had been advised of a damaged airplane in a hangar at the Big Lake Airport. He stated that he had been given digital photographs of the accident airplane, which he forwarded to the IIC. The photographs depicted substantial damage to the right wing, which was cut through the leading edge to the spar, the right lift-strut had electrical arc burns, the rudder had been removed for replacement, and the vertical stabilizer leading edge was removed for replacement. The inspector said he had contacted the airplane's owner, who was out of the area for several weeks, by cellular phone. He stated that the owner/pilot told him he was flying his airplane northwest of Big Lake, looking for fish in a river when the airplane struck what he thought was a tree. He told the inspector he returned to the airport and inspected the damage. The inspector said the pilot reported that his mechanic told him that the damage indicated he had struck a power line. On July 27, a manager for the local power company told the IIC that a power line had been struck by an airplane northwest of Big Lake on the morning of July 13, which caused a power outage. In a written statement dated July 31, the pilot reported that he was attempting to spot fish in a creek when the airplane struck what he initially thought was a tree. He wrote that he returned to the airport and noted the damage to the right wing, lift-strut, and rudder. He indicated that a mechanic who examined the airplane, told him he must have struck a power line.