Since no one has, so far, backed up their experiences with film, or offered something from HTC, then declaring that one claim defines the parameters, while another is simply anecdotal and defies comprehension (merely because it conflicts with the first theory) isn't necessarily accurate.
No offense to anyone, and I'm not saying that this didn't happen, but the claims of "this happened to me, and this is how it works" are often repeated on these boards, and are often wrong. Film or something concrete would be much more useful in this instance.
Anywho, I would like to see all planes abandoned in the water scored as kills, and I would like to see one overall change in the damage model/kill scoring- a plane that is damaged to the point that it cannot be flown (entire wing, tail section taken off, all control surfaces removed, etc) scored as a kill. (This is an idea that's been discussed in the past, mostly with regards to kill stealing, but I digress)
This type of change could easily extend to the ditching parameters- a plane capable of getting its gear down and coming to a stop intact aside from some damage to the engine or fuel tanks is one thing, and seems a reasonable candidate for a ditch. A plane that is shot to pieces at low alt and survives the impact, or one that ditches in the trees, tearing off both wings and the tail section is quite another. If they score a kill for a proxy, or when a pilot bails, even from an intact aircraft, why not score one when the plane is shot apart and falls to the earth, as it was done in reality?
Imagine seeing this in an AAr
"24 Nov 1944. Fired upon a P38, observed hits across entire plane. Fire erupted from both engines, at which point I fired another short burst, removing both wings and the entire tail section from the craft. Both my wingman and I witnessed this plane plummeting into a stand of trees, tearing both engines and fuselage booms off in a horrific ball of fire and smoke, at which point the charred, perforated, and crumpled pilot compartment slid across a road, coming to rest against the front porch of a farmhouse outside Kaiserslautern, at which point there was a small explosion, and the remains of the plane disintegrated. I claim no kills."
That's perfectly normal in here, which doesn't seem very logical to me.