Narrative:

Arrival to the approach to 13L in jfk was completely normal. We were assigned the 13L VOR with the rlls available; the PF briefed he would cross cri at 1500 ft; then descend to the MDA of 800 ft using prof. He would turn off the autopilot approaching 800 ft once he had the rlls and runway in sight and land. He briefed there were a high number of unstable approaches to 13L and we would make every attempt to be stable well before 500 ft. As we passed cri on the approach; before landing checklist complete; the rlls were easily identifiable; and I could see 13R. 13L was a little difficult to pick up with all the cultural lighting; but as we descended to MDA; I followed the rlls to the runway and was able to easily identify runway 13L. The PF was looking directly at 13L; and when we arrived at dmyhl; the PF turned off the ap; and made a slight turn towards the runway and descended; leading me to assume he was visual the landing runway per his brief. Passing 600 ft; the PF made a statement to the effect that he could see 13R; but couldn't pick up 13L. This confused me; since 13R was already behind my right shoulder and there's no way he could have been looking at it. I instantly realized he thought he was looking at 13R; and we were close to passing the runway centerline of 13L. I pointed at 13L; and stated 'that's 13L' which caused him to make a sharp 25 degree bank turn to align with the centerline. At the same time; we reached 500 ft and I commanded 'go around!' because I did not feel we were in a safe position to land. We executed the go around; aligning with runway 13L on the go. We were a little slow in getting to flaps 22; but the go-around was uneventful and we followed the controller's instructions. They pointed out some traffic landing on 22L; and we flew back out and set up for an uneventful approach and landing to 22L. I would say this event was caused by inadequate approach study by the PF and unfamiliarity with the unusual VOR approach that combines instrument and visual final alignment aided by rlls. During the debrief; the PF stated that he thought the rlls for both runways would be in operation. So when he saw the rlls to 13L; he thought they were for 13R; and became confused when he didn't see a second light system or runway. It sounded like he didn't visually acquire 13R as we approached from the south; and then when he only saw one light system going to 13L; he became confused. I could have helped by pointing out 13R; but it seemed to me that he was visually flying exactly as I would have towards 13L; so I assumed he was oriented correctly until the last minute. The unusual VOR instrument and visual combination to 13R/left; which probably works well for pilots familiar with jfk that fly in and out several times a week; is a terrible approach for pilots like myself and the PF; who fly there once a year. We should have requested the ILS 22L instead. That being said; since we were on the VOR 13L; with a visual segment; we should have talked about the airfield diagram and visual references besides the rlls. I might have been the better pilot to fly the approach; since I'm sitting on the right side and had a better view of the airport. Personally; my takeaway is to not fly these instrument/visual combo approaches to unfamiliar airports unless absolutely necessary.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Wide body transport First Officer reported executing a go-around when the pilot flying became confused during the VOR Runway 13L Approach to JFK.

Narrative: Arrival to the approach to 13L in JFK was completely normal. We were assigned the 13L VOR with the RLLS available; the PF briefed he would cross CRI at 1500 ft; then descend to the MDA of 800 ft using PROF. He would turn off the autopilot approaching 800 ft once he had the RLLS and runway in sight and land. He briefed there were a high number of unstable approaches to 13L and we would make every attempt to be stable well before 500 ft. As we passed CRI on the approach; before landing checklist complete; the RLLS were easily identifiable; and I could see 13R. 13L was a little difficult to pick up with all the cultural lighting; but as we descended to MDA; I followed the RLLS to the runway and was able to easily identify runway 13L. The PF was looking directly at 13L; and when we arrived at DMYHL; the PF turned off the AP; and made a slight turn towards the runway and descended; leading me to assume he was visual the landing runway per his brief. Passing 600 ft; the PF made a statement to the effect that he could see 13R; but couldn't pick up 13L. This confused me; since 13R was already behind my right shoulder and there's no way he could have been looking at it. I instantly realized he thought he was looking at 13R; and we were close to passing the runway centerline of 13L. I pointed at 13L; and stated 'That's 13L' which caused him to make a sharp 25 degree bank turn to align with the centerline. At the same time; we reached 500 ft and I commanded 'Go around!' because I did not feel we were in a safe position to land. We executed the go around; aligning with runway 13L on the go. We were a little slow in getting to flaps 22; but the go-around was uneventful and we followed the controller's instructions. They pointed out some traffic landing on 22L; and we flew back out and set up for an uneventful approach and landing to 22L. I would say this event was caused by inadequate approach study by the PF and unfamiliarity with the unusual VOR approach that combines instrument and visual final alignment aided by RLLS. During the debrief; the PF stated that he thought the RLLS for both runways would be in operation. So when he saw the RLLS to 13L; he thought they were for 13R; and became confused when he didn't see a second light system or runway. It sounded like he didn't visually acquire 13R as we approached from the south; and then when he only saw one light system going to 13L; he became confused. I could have helped by pointing out 13R; but it seemed to me that he was visually flying exactly as I would have towards 13L; so I assumed he was oriented correctly until the last minute. The unusual VOR instrument and visual combination to 13R/L; which probably works well for pilots familiar with JFK that fly in and out several times a week; is a terrible approach for pilots like myself and the PF; who fly there once a year. We should have requested the ILS 22L instead. That being said; since we were on the VOR 13L; with a visual segment; we should have talked about the airfield diagram and visual references besides the RLLS. I might have been the better pilot to fly the approach; since I'm sitting on the right side and had a better view of the airport. Personally; my takeaway is to not fly these instrument/visual combo approaches to unfamiliar airports unless absolutely necessary.

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.