...in fighters, you could model a peice of debris like an ejected cockpit. its implied in FS2 (and a lot of MODs) that the pilots eject, or somehow miraculously survive, so this would look kinda cool, as well as be a neat effect for making pilots lives be more beleive able. we can say they get rescued by support ships or something later.
similarly, you could model 'lifeboats' as debris in capships. tiny little 3- or 4-man things that can save a small amount of the crew. though hermes escape pods would be the optimal choice for escaping, i always thought they were more like shuttles.
besides, we DO have 64 peices of debris, maximum
i think its a good idea, and unless theres unforseen problems with it, ill prolly make that a part of my own ships
so, whaddya think? suggestions, (flames to a minimum), thoughts, complaints, etc...