A parachute attached to an airplane that went down in Danbury is credited with saving the lives of the three men on board. Danbury Municipal Airport operations manager Mike Safranek said there is no question that the parachute allowed the men to survive without major injuries. The single-engine Cirrus was flying from Groton on Tuesday night when the plane developed an unspecified mechanical problem. The pilot was about 2 miles from the Danbury airport when he alerted authorities that he planned to deploy the parachute. The Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association said the parachute system has been used successfully more than 30 times with more than 60 survivors.