And did you see how quickly the aircraft got dragged under the water, if the chute had turned the other way on touch down it would have dragged the aircraft with water flooding into the cabin and he would have drowned.
That pilot very sensibly had jammed the door open ! How well you do will depend to a certain extent on how slow your plane flies
We all know how much damage a car will do in a 30 mph head on crash! A lot
Those pretty white caps from 3000 feet will turn into brick walls of water close too
Anything which reduces your horizontal motion will improve your odds
On faster aircraft even into wind will still have a serious impact with a wall of moving water
Hence with the Cirrus although it has horizontal movement with the wind in heavy seas it is a better option to use the chute
Pace