International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 26-29, 1998 / Town & Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / A novel concept using the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) as a structural vibration recording device, to aid in structural health monitoring of commercial and military aircraft, is outlined. The unused cables in the CVR wiring harness act as “latent transducers” that respond to structural vibrations, generating vibration signals, which the CVR records. Postprocessing of such data can provide clues to problem areas or changes in the signature of the aircraft. The standards which the CVR must meet to qualify as a instrumentation-quality recorder are discussed and the steps required to assure compliance are outlined.