The first I remember reading about the "Blackbird" was in the _The Uncanny X-Men_, during the Claremont & Byrne run in the early 80's. Their jet was modeled on the SR-71, although I don't recall if they explicitly mentioned that model number.
The Atlantic article that Uncle Bob was writing in response to lists several specific examples of software failures that did, or could have, resulted in loss of life: a failure of the 911 system; air traffic control systems; medical devices.