Narrative:

We were flying VOR 13L at jfk. I was in the jumpseat. The captain was flying with the first officer (first officer) as the pilot monitoring (pm). Both pilots were unfamiliar with the approach; while I have flown it many times. Originally we were planning on flying the ILS 13L as advertised on the ATIS. As we entered nyc airspace the controller told us to plan on the VOR 13L. He said that jfk was reporting clear at the airport. We observed that there was still weather in the area. The captain briefed; and the boxed items were accomplished. We were very busy as expected. I pointed out many of the things that are inherit to the approach as I was very familiar with it. Although; it was the first time I had flown one in an [this aircraft type]. I am a new guy [to this aircraft]. The other first officer (pm) was new too and came off [a different type of aircraft]. After the captain's brief; I had mentioned that when flying this approach one will almost always have a tailwind. So be sure to be fully configured early and to watch the turn onto final as the tail wind turns into a crosswind. I also wanted tell him in more detail about the lead in lights what it will look like; where to position the jet with regards to the lights; the road; and the racetrack. However; we were beginning the approach and after a very busy period of changing the box; briefing; and me putting in my 2 cents; the captain held his hand up essentially saying enough; time to fly it. Everything was going well. The captain was configured and we started down. We were getting close to MDA and I could see that both pilots were inside on the gauges as we were still in the weather. So I began looking outside. As we approached MDA I called out the first set of lead in lights. The captain looked outside and kicked off the autopilot. Tower began asking if we had the airport in sight. I could not see it; but this seemed to cause both pilots to look in the direction of jfk to find it. I also noticed that the captain began a slight right turn inside the lead in lights. This seemed too early. I thought maybe he had the field or the other leading lights insight. It turns out he did not. He later told me he was concerned with the tailwind and did not want to overshoot final. But turning early like that prevented us from picking up the next set of lights. Noting that both pilots were looking outside and seeing that we appeared to be turning early; I looked inside at the instruments. I immediately recognized that we were well below the brick (GS). I called out that we are below the brick and was just going to follow that up with go around when tower called with a low altitude alert. This all happened very fast. We went around and the captain said we are diverting. We probably had enough gas for one more try; but frankly the weather was still bad; and would not have improved with another approach. Once enroute to [diversion airport ZZZ1] dispatch informed us that [a different diversion airport ZZZ2] was a better alternate. So we changed are destination to ZZZ2. Once on with approach we began our vectors for an ILS. The captain then asked the first officer to tell approach that we are min fuel. Which the first officer did. This was in error as we had 13.0 on the fuel. We then landed with no further issues.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: First Officer reported while observing crew on approach to JFK; crew went off track triggering a low altitude alert; leading to a go-around.

Narrative: We were flying VOR 13L at JFK. I was in the jumpseat. The Captain was flying with the First Officer (FO) as the Pilot Monitoring (PM). Both pilots were unfamiliar with the approach; while I have flown it many times. Originally we were planning on flying the ILS 13L as advertised on the ATIS. As we entered NYC airspace the controller told us to plan on the VOR 13L. He said that JFK was reporting clear at the airport. We observed that there was still weather in the area. The Captain briefed; and the boxed items were accomplished. We were very busy as expected. I pointed out many of the things that are inherit to the approach as I was very familiar with it. Although; it was the first time I had flown one in an [this aircraft type]. I am a new guy [to this aircraft]. The other FO (PM) was new too and came off [a different type of aircraft]. After the Captain's brief; I had mentioned that when flying this approach one will almost always have a tailwind. So be sure to be fully configured early and to watch the turn onto final as the tail wind turns into a crosswind. I also wanted tell him in more detail about the lead in lights what it will look like; where to position the jet with regards to the lights; the road; and the racetrack. However; we were beginning the approach and after a very busy period of changing the box; briefing; and me putting in my 2 cents; the Captain held his hand up essentially saying enough; time to fly it. Everything was going well. The Captain was configured and we started down. We were getting close to MDA and I could see that both pilots were inside on the gauges as we were still in the weather. So I began looking outside. As we approached MDA I called out the first set of lead in lights. The Captain looked outside and kicked off the autopilot. Tower began asking if we had the airport in sight. I could not see it; but this seemed to cause both pilots to look in the direction of JFK to find it. I also noticed that the Captain began a slight right turn inside the lead in lights. This seemed too early. I thought maybe he had the field or the other leading lights insight. It turns out he did not. He later told me he was concerned with the tailwind and did not want to overshoot final. But turning early like that prevented us from picking up the next set of lights. Noting that both pilots were looking outside and seeing that we appeared to be turning early; I looked inside at the instruments. I immediately recognized that we were well below the brick (GS). I called out that we are below the brick and was just going to follow that up with GO Around when tower called with a low altitude alert. This all happened very fast. We went around and the Captain said we are diverting. We probably had enough gas for one more try; but frankly the weather was still bad; and would not have improved with another approach. Once enroute to [Diversion airport ZZZ1] dispatch informed us that [a different diversion airport ZZZ2] was a better alternate. So we changed are destination to ZZZ2. Once on with approach we began our vectors for an ILS. The Captain then asked the FO to tell approach that we are min fuel. Which the FO did. This was in error as we had 13.0 on the fuel. We then landed with no further issues.

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.