A B737 on a night visual approach to den 35R was issued an ATC low altitude alert descending toward ...

Attributes
ACN	1077350
Time
Date	201303
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	DEN.Airport
State Reference	CO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 197
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 211
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Narrative:

On arrival into den; we were being vectored for the ILS 35R on a clear; VFR night. With the runway in sight; we were level at 9;000 ft. After clearance for the visual approach; we then set in the FAF altitude of 7;000 ft for fronz (the FAF). We descended out of 9;000 ft and got a radio call from approach telling us to check our altitude as they got a low altitude alert. We then climbed back to about 8;000 ft to join the VASI. We never got any aircraft GPWS warnings or alerts. After joining the VASI; we continued on for an uneventful landing. We should have kept 9;000 ft in the altitude window and stayed at 9;000 ft until we were past drumm intersection.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 on a night visual approach to DEN 35R was issued an ATC Low Altitude Alert descending toward 7;000 FT at FRONZ but climbed to 8;000 FT then descended on the VASI. The EGPWS never alerted.

Narrative: On arrival into DEN; we were being vectored for the ILS 35R on a clear; VFR night. With the runway in sight; we were level at 9;000 FT. After clearance for the visual approach; we then set in the FAF altitude of 7;000 FT for FRONZ (the FAF). We descended out of 9;000 FT and got a radio call from Approach telling us to check our altitude as they got a low altitude alert. We then climbed back to about 8;000 FT to join the VASI. We never got any aircraft GPWS warnings or alerts. After joining the VASI; we continued on for an uneventful landing. We should have kept 9;000 FT in the Altitude window and stayed at 9;000 FT until we were past DRUMM Intersection.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

A B737 on a night visual approach to den 35R was issued an ATC low altitude alert descending toward 7;000 ft at fronz but climbed to 8;000 ft then descended on the VASI. The egpws never alerted.