diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3b31ebcb6..cb3084b47 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## 4.44.0 - TBD
 
+### Added
+
+- A `crash` processor for FATAL logging. (@rockwotj)
+
 ## 4.43.0 - 2025-01-13
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/internal/impl/pure/processor_crash.go b/internal/impl/pure/processor_crash.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df536ae3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/impl/pure/processor_crash.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Redpanda Data, Inc.
+
+package pure
+
+import (
+	"context"
+
+	"github.com/redpanda-data/benthos/v4/internal/component/interop"
+	"github.com/redpanda-data/benthos/v4/internal/log"
+	"github.com/redpanda-data/benthos/v4/public/service"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	spec := service.NewConfigSpec().
+		Categories("Utility").
+		Beta().
+		Summary(`Crashes the process using a fatal log message. The log message can be set using function interpolations described in  xref:configuration:interpolation.adoc#bloblang-queries[Bloblang queries] which allows you to log the contents and metadata of messages.`).
+		Field(service.NewInterpolatedStringField(""))
+	err := service.RegisterProcessor(
+		"crash", spec,
+		func(conf *service.ParsedConfig, res *service.Resources) (service.Processor, error) {
+			messageStr, err := conf.FieldInterpolatedString("")
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			mgr := interop.UnwrapManagement(res)
+			return &crashProcessor{mgr.Logger(), messageStr}, nil
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+}
+
+type crashProcessor struct {
+	logger  log.Modular
+	message *service.InterpolatedString
+}
+
+func (l *crashProcessor) Process(ctx context.Context, msg *service.Message) (service.MessageBatch, error) {
+	m, err := l.message.TryString(msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		l.logger.Fatal("failed to interpolate crash message: %v", err)
+	} else {
+		l.logger.Fatal("%s", m)
+	}
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (l *crashProcessor) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
+	return nil
+}