Narrative:

I had departed ZZZ on an IFR flight plan. Once in contact with departure; I was cleared direct ZZZ1 VOR. My copilot acknowledged this while I programmed the GPS. We were then instructed to fly heading 300 degrees and maintain 4;000 ft. At this time we were passing 3;000 ft; when the autopilot and FD went offline. I began flying manually and commenced my right turn to 300 degrees. During this turn while passing 3;500 ft; my ADI momentarily went completely inverted; came back to an approximate wings level; then went to 90 degrees off horizontal and all ADI flags appeared. I attempted to roll wings level on the copilot's attitude indicator and level off at 4;000 ft and I asked my copilot to declare an emergency and return to ZZZ. I began to develop spatial disorientation due to attempting to roll wings and level off at 4;000 ft while trying to ignore my ADI and use my copilot's attitude indicator. I asked my copilot if he could fly the airplane using his instruments and he said he said he was unable to make sense of them. Around this time; ATC advised us of traffic in our area and that we were supposed to have climbed to 6;000 ft. My TCAS was already warning me of traffic at my altitude and less than 1 mile; but I was unable to take evasive action as I was attempting to just maintain wings level and 4;000 ft on partial panel. My copilot acknowledged the climb to 6;000 ft and asked for no-gyro vectors back to ZZZ. I was unable to resume a climb; however; and ATC told us to just maintain 4;000 ft and gave us our first 'no gyro' turn instruction to the right. I attempted to do this while using my copilot's attitude indicator; but my instrument scan was not accustomed to this; and my spatial disorientation became worse and my control of the airplane suffered. During this time; our altitude varied between 3;500 and 4;500 ft. At one point; I looked over to see that I was exceeding 60 degrees of bank on my copilot's attitude indicator; so I asked my copilot to roll us to wings level. He complied and returned control of the airplane to me. I was then able to overcome my spatial disorientation and maintain positive control of the airplane. We were then given no gyro vectors to the ILS at ZZZ and made an uneventful landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C501 Captain reported losing his ADI shortly after takeoff in IMC. He declared an emergency and returned to departure airport.

Narrative: I had departed ZZZ on an IFR flight plan. Once in contact with Departure; I was cleared direct ZZZ1 VOR. My Copilot acknowledged this while I programmed the GPS. We were then instructed to fly heading 300 degrees and maintain 4;000 FT. At this time we were passing 3;000 FT; when the autopilot and FD went offline. I began flying manually and commenced my right turn to 300 degrees. During this turn while passing 3;500 FT; my ADI momentarily went completely inverted; came back to an approximate wings level; then went to 90 degrees off horizontal and all ADI flags appeared. I attempted to roll wings level on the Copilot's attitude indicator and level off at 4;000 FT and I asked my Copilot to declare an emergency and return to ZZZ. I began to develop spatial disorientation due to attempting to roll wings and level off at 4;000 FT while trying to ignore my ADI and use my Copilot's attitude indicator. I asked my Copilot if he could fly the airplane using his instruments and he said he said he was unable to make sense of them. Around this time; ATC advised us of traffic in our area and that we were supposed to have climbed to 6;000 FT. My TCAS was already warning me of traffic at my altitude and less than 1 mile; but I was unable to take evasive action as I was attempting to just maintain wings level and 4;000 FT on partial panel. My Copilot acknowledged the climb to 6;000 FT and asked for no-gyro vectors back to ZZZ. I was unable to resume a climb; however; and ATC told us to just maintain 4;000 FT and gave us our first 'no gyro' turn instruction to the right. I attempted to do this while using my Copilot's attitude indicator; but my instrument scan was not accustomed to this; and my spatial disorientation became worse and my control of the airplane suffered. During this time; our altitude varied between 3;500 and 4;500 FT. At one point; I looked over to see that I was exceeding 60 degrees of bank on my Copilot's attitude indicator; so I asked my Copilot to roll us to wings level. He complied and returned control of the airplane to me. I was then able to overcome my spatial disorientation and maintain positive control of the airplane. We were then given no gyro vectors to the ILS at ZZZ and made an uneventful landing.

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.