Definition
Audible alerts produced by an aircraft's avionics or warning systems to notify the pilot of a specific condition requiring attention, such as traffic conflicts, terrain proximity, stall onset, altitude deviations, or system faults. Aural warnings may take the form of synthesized voice messages (for example, "Traffic, traffic" or "Pull up"), tones, horns, or beeps, each tied to a defined alert condition.
Plain English
Sounds the airplane makes to tell the pilot something needs attention. These can be spoken words like "Traffic, traffic," or simple tones, beeps, or horns.
Context Anchor
In traffic avoidance, aural warnings may come from equipment that detects nearby aircraft and gives the pilot an audible traffic alert.
Derivation
"Aural" comes from the Latin auris, meaning "ear." An aural warning is therefore a warning delivered through the ear — by sound — as opposed to a visual warning shown on a display or annunciator.
Why Pilots Care
They deliver instant awareness of a threat so the pilot can act while still flying the airplane.
Grounding Statement
If the cockpit gives a tone or voice alert for traffic, that sound is an aural warning.
Intuition Check
Do not read aural as oral. Aural means heard by the ear; oral means spoken by the mouth.
Example Sentence 1
When the traffic system detected a converging aircraft, an aural warning of "Traffic, traffic" sounded in the cockpit.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot climbed immediately after hearing the terrain aural warning.