There was a very large sea running with high winds. Ditching a fixed gear airplane in these conditions would be much more difficult than the same process on a calm day with no swell.
To me this is one of the most cut and dried examples of the value of the airframe parachute.
There seems to be a few posters that always rubbish the concept of the airframe parachute in general and the Cirrus in particular, no matter what the circumstances. The pilot of this aircraft undid his seat belt and stepped out of the aircraft after it landed under the parachute, something that 70 or so other Cirrus pilots and passengers were able to do after successful parachute deployments.
I am personally struggling to see the downside here...