Narrative:

After a normal start we departed runway 35 with an initial heading of 350 and began a climb to 5;000 ft. Between 3;000 and 4;000 ft in the climb in IMC and heavy rain the red AC fail light illuminated on the cockpit annunciator panel causing a master caution warning as well. At this time the autopilot disengaged; the altitude pre-selector went blank; the flight director disappeared and the #1 ADI tumbled. Within seconds the number 1 inverter fail amber light illuminated on the annunciator panel.as the sic was retrieving the abnormal procedure checklist for the AC fail annunciation; the #1 ADI came back up and stayed erect for about 15 seconds; during which time I cleared the master caution warning. During this time we were leveling at 5;000 ft in IMC when departure cleared us to 16;000 ft and a heading of 340; and to expedite through 7;000 ft. I initiated a climb and within seconds; the master caution warning returned followed by a second tumble of the #1 ADI. While the sic was running the AC failure checklist; and we were passing through 7;000 I elected to return to the airport. I advised departure we were having an electrical problem and it to standby. Departure asked 'are you declaring an emergency?' to which I replied 'no; not at this time; however; we would like to return to the airport.' departure replied 'we will go ahead and declare an emergency for you at this time.' departure then stated 'if able turn to a heading of 180 and descend at pilot's discretion to 6;000 ft.'we received several step down altitudes and vectors to intercept the ILS approach; were cleared to land; broke out of the bottom of the cloud layer; executed a normal landing and cleared the runway at taxiway F where we were given a different ground frequency in order to communicate with fire and rescue. Crash fire rescue equipment inquired if we had an onboard fire; or a smell of smoke? The first officer replied no; that we had returned due to an electrical issue. They followed us to the ramp where a normal shut down was conducted. The discrepancy was written up and the aircraft turned over to maintenance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Citation II flight crew lost several Nav and Autoflight capabilities when they suffered a loss of AC power shortly after takeoff in inclement weather. The opted to declare an emergency and return to their departure airport for maintenance.

Narrative: After a normal start we departed Runway 35 with an initial heading of 350 and began a climb to 5;000 FT. Between 3;000 and 4;000 FT in the climb in IMC and heavy rain the RED AC Fail light illuminated on the cockpit annunciator panel causing a MASTER CAUTION WARNING as well. At this time the autopilot disengaged; the altitude pre-selector went blank; the flight director disappeared and the #1 ADI tumbled. Within seconds the Number 1 Inverter Fail AMBER Light illuminated on the Annunciator panel.As the SIC was retrieving the abnormal procedure checklist for the AC Fail Annunciation; the #1 ADI came back up and stayed erect for about 15 seconds; during which time I cleared the MASTER CAUTION WARNING. During this time we were leveling at 5;000 FT in IMC when Departure cleared us to 16;000 FT and a heading of 340; and to expedite through 7;000 FT. I initiated a climb and within seconds; the MASTER CAUTION WARNING returned followed by a second tumble of the #1 ADI. While the SIC was running the AC Failure checklist; and we were passing through 7;000 I elected to return to the airport. I advised Departure we were having an electrical problem and it to standby. Departure asked 'are you declaring an Emergency?' to which I replied 'No; not at this time; however; we would like to return to the airport.' Departure replied 'we will go ahead and declare an Emergency for you at this time.' Departure then stated 'If able turn to a heading of 180 and descend at pilot's discretion to 6;000 FT.'We received several step down altitudes and vectors to intercept the ILS approach; were cleared to land; broke out of the bottom of the cloud layer; executed a normal landing and cleared the runway at Taxiway F where we were given a different Ground frequency in order to communicate with fire and rescue. CFR inquired if we had an onboard fire; or a smell of smoke? The First Officer replied no; that we had returned due to an electrical issue. They followed us to the ramp where a normal shut down was conducted. The discrepancy was written up and the aircraft turned over to Maintenance.

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.