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The problem of damage and crack detection in structural components has acquired an important role in recent years. Since the presence of cracks in a structure may alter its vibrational characteristics, the estimation of such variations can be used to detect cracks and damage, and to monitor the integrity of structures. The use of fast, easy and inexpensive non‐destructive testing is thus a major task. In this paper, sensitivity analysis by measurement of the reduction of eigenfrequencies was utilized to localize a crack in a non‐rotating shaft coupled to an elastic foundation. The shaft was modeled by the finite element method and coupled to an experimentally identified foundation model. The detection of a crack with different depths and orientations was verified experimentally and a good agreement between actual and detected crack positions was achieved. Finally easiness, effectiveness, applicability of the method and its extensions are also shown.