Have each ‘Lifeboat’ essentially be a shallow metal cone with straps and multiple parachutes around the edge. In an emergency multiple people strap in, the disk drops (with small parachutes to maintain alignment) away from the ship then the main chutes deploy. With any luck the lifeboat will be moving slowly enough by the time it hits your terrain that it will deflect the worst of the impacts, leaving your airmen mostly intact.
Some (but not much) control can be exerted by manipulating the chutes, but the main point of this design is to shield your airmen from dangerous terrain (a tree branch through the spine often offends) and then provide further options. If snarled in trees, it’s easier to climb around inside and could have stowed rope ladders for safe egress, if a water landing then floats can be deployed, and the lifeboat can have space for potentially lifesaving supplies.