Something that stands out to me in this thread is pretty much unilaterally IFR qualified Rotary Pilots are saying that this is crazy and even if you are qualified in IFR, flying a uncertified aircraft into these conditions will likely have only one ending.
Take heed VFR guys. It scares the hell out of me to hear guys saying I'd never let myself get into that situation however if I did I'd be able to get out of it as once upon a time I flew with a hood on and it wasn't that bad.
2 points worth noting, flying with a hood/screen on is not even close to flying in cloud. It always amazes me how the human body can adapt and interpret unusual data. There are a lot of external ques that are still available to you with a hood and or screen that your brain interprets subconsciously such as shading on the panel, light getting through the hood, temperature changes due to the sun position etc. Night might make this more difficult but it is still not the same.
Once early in my career (with a safety pilot of course) I shut my eyes as tight as I could and tried to control the aircraft. After 4 minutes I decided to stop as I was able to keep the aircraft the right way up at a similar height and direction with oscillations by interpretation of sounds and light plus warmth. Could I do this in a cloud? not a chance!
As Flying bull alluded to random shading and depth changes in cloud can be disorienting especially in the periphery while on instruments.
The other point that has already been made is that keeping the aircraft the right way up is only the first thing you have to do correctly in IMC. There is a reason that aircraft with autopilots but without flight directors require two pilot operation and that is hand flying even stabilised machines narrows the focus and increases pilot workload.
Having your instructor ask you to make a 500fpm climb with a rate one 180 deg turn where your focus is solely on that simple task is not particularly hard.
Accidentally (or in this case what appears to be intentionally) flying IMC where you need to get to a safe height,navigate, communicate, come up with a exit plan is a completely different story.
As a Single Pilot IFR am I happy to do this in a IFR aircraft? Well that would depend on where I was but probably but there is no way I'd intentionally get into the situation this guy was in. In a R44 I'd be very worried and IF I got out alive I'd thank my lucky stars.
I suspect this Pilot and perhaps the company culture has flirted with IMC successfully on previous occasions leading to progressive pushing in worse conditions. Eventually the limit was discovered.
If you are a VFR Pilot and can not see the horizon or the ground, you have gone to far period. Learn a lesson if you survive and do not push it as far next time. Have a plan as well, either descend if that is safe, reverse course and hope to break free of the cloud or climb to a safe height declare a mayday and request assistance from ATC if its in your area. There is a great sound clip where ATC saves a fixed wing guy who flew IMC and went into a spin however he was able to be talked down to a safe landing.
The link with the Russian guy was interesting. Not only is he flying an uncertified aircraft IMC (Which is ironic when one of the statements is "do not exceed your technical equipment") I also suspect he was flying in known icing conditions(It looked pretty cold to me and he was in the cloud). Also I can not remember if the 44 had a Pitot/Static heater but if it doesn't that just adds another level of stupidity to what he was doing.
Clearly this guy was good on the controls and therefore thought he knew what he was doing. Sad to see he took some Pax to the grave with him testing his limits.
Don't go making things up people, its just not worth it.