Something really has to seriously go wrong for you to want to pull that lever. Once you do, as you said, you are totally at the mercy of this parachute system.

Something really has to seriously go wrong for you to want to pull that lever. Once you do, as you said, you are totally at the mercy of this parachute system. It will land you where it lands you, and if something goes wrong with it, you are pretty much screwed. If the single engine goes out, you can still operate the plane as a glider and have some control over where and how it lands. I'd rather go this route than chance a parachute system that disrupts the natural lift of the aircraft for almost any situation except some kind of very serious control surface issue.