BTW, the bug occurs if you take out a critical component in one shot or even a very quick burst of hits so this was more prevalent in planes with bigger guns.
Ahh, that 'splains it. This AM I was in on a KI84 and peppered him with .303's but didn't bring him down, or even visibly even hurt him. One of my squaddies then blew him up with cannonfire at close range. I got the kill, he got nothing.
Then, 'bout an hour later, I saddled up on a P47M that didn't know I was there as he was focused on another friendly whom I'm not sure had even fired his guns. I got right in within 200 on his 6 and NUKED him with 20mm. Instant fireball and falling parts. No assist or kill for me.