Narrative:

We were arriving at the minneapolis airport after an 11.0 hour duty day and 7:30 hours of flight time. The weather was clear. All the runways were closed except 17-35. We both don't remember ever landing on runway 17 and I definitely had not. We were approaching over downtown minneapolis. After being cleared for a visual; the pilot flying in the right seat extended the final approach course off of the bobee final approach fix and selected 2100 ft on the MCP (mode control panel). While descending to 2100 ft MSL; and slightly right of the final approach course; tower said 'low altitude alert; do you have the airport; runway in sight' and I responded 'yes' and the tower cleared us to land again. Then (or roughly at the same time) the GPWS alert 'caution terrain' sounded once and then again partially. We were not at 2100 ft MSL yet; around 2400 ft and the pilot flying stopped descending and began a slight climb. The 'caution terrain' alert had stopped and we continued the approach to an uneventful landing. We should have gone around due to being at night even though we had the airport; runway; and terrain in sight. We had looked at all relevant company charts and had briefed the approach. This event was totally unexpected by both of us.even though we knew we were flying right over the high rise buildings in the downtown area; it didn't seem to be a threat. Unlike the company briefing material; there is no chart cautioning the high rise buildings. Maybe one should be developed to highlight the issue. Also on the localizer 17 approach chart the height of the buildings is kind of hidden under the localizer course. Maybe making them a different color; red; would help make them standout. We should have gone around; but the end of a long day; clear weather; airport and runway in sight; and the GPWS stopped saying 'caution terrain' and knowing the threat was behind us influenced our continuing the visual approach. And never having landed on runway 17 was a factor.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported receiving a low altitude alert and a GPWS terrain/obstacle warning on a night visual approach to MSP Runway 17.

Narrative: We were arriving at the Minneapolis airport after an 11.0 hour duty day and 7:30 hours of flight time. The weather was clear. All the runways were closed except 17-35. We both don't remember ever landing on Runway 17 and I definitely had not. We were approaching over downtown Minneapolis. After being cleared for a visual; the Pilot Flying in the right seat extended the final approach course off of the BOBEE final approach fix and selected 2100 ft on the MCP (Mode Control Panel). While descending to 2100 ft MSL; and slightly right of the final approach course; Tower said 'Low altitude alert; do you have the airport; runway in sight' and I responded 'yes' and the Tower cleared us to land again. Then (or roughly at the same time) the GPWS alert 'Caution Terrain' sounded once and then again partially. We were not at 2100 ft MSL yet; around 2400 ft and the Pilot Flying stopped descending and began a slight climb. The 'Caution Terrain' alert had stopped and we continued the approach to an uneventful landing. We should have gone around due to being at night even though we had the airport; runway; and terrain in sight. We had looked at all relevant company charts and had briefed the approach. This event was totally unexpected by both of us.Even though we knew we were flying right over the high rise buildings in the downtown area; it didn't seem to be a threat. Unlike the company briefing material; there is no chart cautioning the high rise buildings. Maybe one should be developed to highlight the issue. Also on the LOC 17 Approach chart the height of the buildings is kind of hidden under the localizer course. Maybe making them a different color; red; would help make them standout. We should have gone around; but the end of a long day; clear weather; airport and runway in sight; and the GPWS stopped saying 'Caution Terrain' and knowing the threat was behind us influenced our continuing the visual approach. And never having landed on Runway 17 was a factor.

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.