You don't 'land in the desert'. It has to come down on a runway. Any risk to that means very high likelihood of injuries or death. Was that the case here? Mayb

You don't 'land in the desert'. It has to come down on a runway. Any risk to that means very high likelihood of injuries or death. Was that the case here? Maybe, maybe not. But the flight plan was built with safety in mind, and the pilots should have aborted.