“Why did the helicopter trainee fail on his first flight?”/“He was cold, so he turned the fan off.”

A helicopter riddle is:
   
Q: Why did the helicopter trainee fail on his first flight?
A: He was cold, so he turned the fan off.
   
A Polish joke version is:
 
Q: Did you hear about the Polish helicopter crash?
A: The pilot got cold, so he turned off the fan.
   
The joke—which has several versions, with different identities for the dumb pilot—has been cited in print since at least 1997.
 
     
Google Books
Awesome Jokes
By Charles Keller
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1997
Pg. 46:
DEX: Did you hear about the guy who had a helicopter crash?
REX: No, what happened?
DEX: Seems he got cold so he turned off the fan.
 
Google Groups: soc.culture.pakistan
Best PUKISTANI jokes!
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Aug 19, 1999, 3:00:00 AM
(...)
Did you hear about the Pakistani helicopter crash ?
The pilot felt cold, so he turned off the fan.
   
Google Groups: soc.culture,indian
Indian ARMY
Nosrat Rizvi
Sep 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM
(...)
Did you hear about the Indian helicopter crash ?
The pilot felt cold, so he turned off the fan.
   
Google Groups: alt.fan.madonna
“Did you hear about the Polish Helicopter crash?”
HootyHoot
May 7, 2001, 5:47:52 PM
Q: Did you hear about the Polish Helicopter crash?
A: The pilot got cold, so he turned off the fan.
   
Google Books
Penguin Pocket Jokes
By David Pickering
London, UK: Penguin Books
2006
Pg. ?:
Did you hear about the blonde whose helicopter crashed? She was cold so she turned off the fan.
 
Twitter
Bryan Thompson
@bt4jc
IJoTD: Did you hear about the Irish pilot who had an accident with his helicopter?  He thought it was a bit cold, so he turned the fan off.
7:32 AM · Mar 8, 2010·Twitter Web Client
     
Twitter
Katie Purkiss
@KatiePurkiss
Blonde helicopter pilot crashed - what happened?  She got cold so she turned the fan off
6:03 PM · Jul 26, 2010·Twitter Web Client
 
Twitter
Robert Bell
@gradeaway
Christmas cracker: why did the trainee helicopter pilot fail on his first flight? He was feeling cold, so he turned the fan off.
8:01 PM · Dec 26, 2010·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
𝙄𝙣𝙪 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞 𝙃𝙪𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧 ™
@snoopy_pup
i just heard about “the Newfie helicopter pilot who crashed… he was cold so he turned the fan off!” @TigreBCat
4:33 AM · Aug 15, 2012·TweetCaster for Android
   
Twitter
Anthony Lee Earth globe asia-australia
@AnthonyLee59
@BBCR1 @NiallOfficial #makeniallsmile
Q. Why did the Irishman crash his helicopter?
A. He got too cold so he turned the fan off
9:50 AM · Oct 6, 2012·Twitter Web Client
   
Google Books
Crap Dad Jokes:
Because Dads aren’t as funny as they think they are
By Ian Allen
London, UK: Portico Books
2013
Pg. 13:
How did the idiot crash his helicopter?
He was a bit cold so he turned the fan off.
 
15 June 2016, Fraser Coast Chronicle (Maryborough, Queensland), pg. 14:
The young new pilot was learning to fly a helicopter. After two hours of great flying, she crashed.
When asked by the crash investigator what happened, she said, “I got cold so I turned off the fan.”
     
Twitter
Hencho
@Panchodelajuju
Replying to @JackPosobiec
Did you hear about the Polish Helicopter crash?
The pilot got cold, so he turned off the fan.
4:47 PM · Jan 4, 2021·Twitter Web App
 
Twitter
Lorraine Jo King
@lahlahbean
#wednesdaywit
How did Ted crash his helicopter?
He was a bit cold so he turned the fan off.
2:34 AM · Jan 6, 2021·Twitter for iPhone