?? You mean open the door and get out like normal?
Modesetter, Landing with the chute fully deployed is said to feel like falling off a 2 storey building. Its like the old mushroom parachutes, if you dont roll properly on landing you break legs. The undercarriage is designed to take some of the impact along with the honeycomb structure within the seats. I reckon the airbags would be as useful as big saggy ones on a bull, but there you go.
The only reason it has a chute is to increase sales. You can still glide the thing and land successfully, however like most aircraft if you do not maintain the correct attitude/speed, you will fall out of the sky like a stone.
As to whether they did the right thing by pulling the chute, look, at the end of the day they survived. Perhaps if they attempted a forced landing without the chute the result might be different. I may of done things differently but that doesn't mean they have done the wrong thing.
What will be more interesting is why the low oil pressure. Why did the ol 550 give up the ghost. We will have to wait and see for that.