Narrative:

First officer flying the VOR 13L approach with LNAV VNAV. After dmyhl first officer hand flying started descending right turn for runway alignment. When aircraft was banked right I lost sight of runway with overhead panel blocking and restricting my view. Tower called us and said 'altitude alert; check altimeter 30.25'. Still unable to see runway; I commanded first officer to level off and stop descent!! I then said 'we need to see and intercept VASI before further descent' first officer complied with my command to landing.during approach brief; first officer and I both briefed the fact that neither one of us had flown this approach more than 2 or 3 times in our entire careers here; noting unfamiliarity. I think event occurred because descent was started a bit early but note that first officer is only one that has a visual on runway during runway alignment as aircraft is in bank to right.this approach is very unique in our system and has unique characteristics that should be noted in our 10-7 pages (immediately!!) to prevent future events such as; 'if cleared approach VOR runway 13L/right maintain MDA until proper descent path and runway alignment can be attained!!'also I noted the RNAV (rnp) to 13L that could have been better choice for maximizing all available automation and additional guidance. Especially since captain may not see runway when aircraft in right turn. Pm can be monitoring LNAV and VNAV as well as external guidance and track with the RNAV approach. Maybe this could be mentioned on 10-7 pages.I noticed in company pages there is more emphasis about different gate procedures than approaches related to jfk. In passed several years valuable information has been taken away as important references from 10-7 pages.kudos to jfk tower controllers for providing us their awareness!!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 flight crew reported receiving a low altitude alert from Tower on the VOR 13L approach to JFK.

Narrative: FO flying the VOR 13L Approach with LNAV VNAV. After DMYHL FO hand flying started descending right turn for runway alignment. When aircraft was banked right I lost sight of runway with overhead panel blocking and restricting my view. Tower called us and said 'ALTITUDE ALERT; Check ALTIMETER 30.25'. Still unable to see runway; I commanded FO to LEVEL OFF and stop descent!! I then said 'we need to SEE and intercept VASI before further descent' FO complied with my command to landing.During approach brief; FO and I both briefed the fact that neither one of us had flown this approach more than 2 or 3 times in our entire careers here; noting unfamiliarity. I think event occurred because descent was started a bit early but note that FO is only one that has a visual on runway during runway alignment as aircraft is in bank to right.This approach is very unique in our system and has unique characteristics that SHOULD be noted in our 10-7 pages (IMMEDIATELY!!) To PREVENT future events such as; 'IF cleared approach VOR Runway 13L/R maintain MDA until proper descent path and runway alignment can be attained!!'Also I noted the RNAV (RNP) to 13L that could have been better choice for maximizing all available automation and additional guidance. Especially since Captain may NOT see runway when aircraft in right turn. PM can be monitoring LNAV and VNAV as well as external guidance and track with the RNAV approach. Maybe this could be mentioned on 10-7 pages.I noticed in company pages there is more emphasis about different gate procedures than approaches related to JFK. In passed several years valuable information has been taken away as important references from 10-7 pages.Kudos to JFK Tower Controllers for providing us their awareness!!

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.