Narrative:

I was pilot monitoring. We were having problems with ACARS getting ATIS. It wasn't until we were relatively close to the field that we got ATIS. During the descent; new york center was placing aircraft in the hold on the arrival. We were instructed to hold. Literally; as we hit the holding fix; ATC canceled the hold and we were told to resume the STAR with speed restrictions. Our initial plan/brief was to land runway 22 at lga. When we finally received ATIS; we were expecting the ILS runway 04 circle to land runway 22. This in and of itself is a bit confusing as I had never heard of doing a precision approach to a circle maneuver. I had been to lga two weeks previously; however; it was during the day. During night conditions; the field is nearly impossible to pick up with all the city and ambient lighting; especially if you haven't been there at night/nor familiar with the field. During the descent; ATC said to expect ILS runway 04 circle 31 this was different than what we had prepared for in the ILS runway 04 circle 22. ATC was extremely congested at the time. We had the raw data setup for the ILS to runway 04 and backed up by the localizer 31. The captain had loaded the localizer to 31 in the FMC to enhance our sa. ATC then cleared us the ILS runway 04 circle to 31. They never provided circling direction as to whether we were to circle south for a left base 31 or circle north for a right base to 31. As we started the approach; we were both outside attempting to acquire the field. On the precision to runway 04; I saw the approach lights; called the field; but as we turned to the east; I completely lost sight of the field and continued to stay outside in an effort to reacquire the field. As we widened our pattern; new york approach advised us of jfk traffic and we were outside of the circling approach airspace. ATC then gave us a vector toward the field and climb out instructions. We were re-vectored to the approach and re-attempted the same maneuver and landed without further incident. Due to the ever changing ATC/runway in use; we were rushed in the arrival circle approach. It wasn't till later that we noticed that DME for the ILS is off the VOR so you have to cross tune DME for raw data. I could have been more proactive and placed a 3.4 mile circle on the fix page and that would have helped us stay within the circling airspace. Fly the approach (ILS 04) as if we were in IMC conditions and then drone in till we were 100% sure we had the field. Then square our corner to enter a left downwind for runway 31. However; I don't believe that is the intention of ny approach; as they were trying to sequence in as many aircraft as the tower could handle. So; in the effort of trying to help ATC; we hosed ourselves. A more thorough brief on the ILS runway 04 and then driving in till we were both 100% sure we had the field. We started circling approach outside circling parameters.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reports difficulty complying with a circle to land clearance at LGA resulting in ATC issuing a climb and vectors for another approach. It was night with rain showers and the crew was new to the airport. The second attempt was successful.

Narrative: I was pilot monitoring. We were having problems with ACARS getting ATIS. It wasn't until we were relatively close to the field that we got ATIS. During the descent; New York Center was placing aircraft in the hold on the arrival. We were instructed to hold. Literally; as we hit the holding fix; ATC canceled the hold and we were told to resume the STAR with speed restrictions. Our initial plan/brief was to land Runway 22 at LGA. When we finally received ATIS; we were expecting the ILS Runway 04 circle to land Runway 22. This in and of itself is a bit confusing as I had never heard of doing a precision approach to a circle maneuver. I had been to LGA two weeks previously; however; it was during the day. During night conditions; the field is nearly impossible to pick up with all the city and ambient lighting; especially if you haven't been there at night/nor familiar with the field. During the descent; ATC said to expect ILS Runway 04 Circle 31 this was different than what we had prepared for in the ILS Runway 04 Circle 22. ATC was extremely congested at the time. We had the raw data setup for the ILS to Runway 04 and backed up by the Localizer 31. The Captain had loaded the Localizer to 31 in the FMC to enhance our SA. ATC then cleared us the ILS Runway 04 Circle to 31. They never provided circling direction as to whether we were to circle south for a left base 31 or circle north for a right base to 31. As we started the approach; we were both outside attempting to acquire the field. On the precision to Runway 04; I saw the approach lights; called the field; but as we turned to the east; I completely lost sight of the field and continued to stay outside in an effort to reacquire the field. As we widened our pattern; New York Approach advised us of JFK traffic and we were outside of the circling approach airspace. ATC then gave us a vector toward the field and climb out instructions. We were re-vectored to the approach and re-attempted the same maneuver and landed without further incident. Due to the ever changing ATC/runway in use; we were rushed in the arrival circle approach. It wasn't till later that we noticed that DME for the ILS is off the VOR so you have to cross tune DME for raw data. I could have been more proactive and placed a 3.4 mile circle on the Fix page and that would have helped us stay within the circling airspace. Fly the approach (ILS 04) as if we were in IMC conditions and then drone in till we were 100% sure we had the field. Then square our corner to enter a left downwind for Runway 31. However; I don't believe that is the intention of NY Approach; as they were trying to sequence in as many aircraft as the Tower could handle. So; in the effort of trying to help ATC; we hosed ourselves. A more thorough brief on the ILS Runway 04 and then driving in till we were both 100% sure we had the field. We started circling approach outside circling parameters.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.