Here's a couple other things I could think of:
1. The main control room is in the Mexico Pavilion.
2. Each of the three lasers has a spotter to monitor the scan field of that laser. FAA regulations state that you can't point a laser anywhere near an airplane, so they must be shut off if anything flies into their field. I know that the spotter for the Mexico laser is positioned on the Friendship boat dock near Mexico.
At one point, they were working on a system that would let them block the laser in only a portion of the scan field. For example, if a plane was flying through the left of the scan field, they could block out a portion of the left side of the laser while leaving the right side on. I don't think they ever finished this, though, because I've never seen it used. They still inhibit the entire scan field. I suspect the FAA might not have approved this idea.
3. Depending on wind conditions, the stage manager can remove certain charges from the show. This reduces the chance of debris falling into the crowd.
4. The meteor effect which begins the show is one of the more complicated effects used anywhere. The firework shell is launched from an air tube and contains a microchip which commands it to ignite at precisely the right time. It is met in the air by two charges fired from the barge below, which also contain microchips. If this effect is ever missing from the show, it is most likely because one of the chips failed to confirm its timing sequence to the show computer before it was to launch. If this happens, the computer assumes the charge is bad and doesn't launch it.
5. If the globe barge fails to receive the show timecode, the operator on board can manually sync the video to the music.
6. There are bunkers on board each of the four fountain barges so that a technician remain on board during the show. These barges occassionally lose timecode and must be reset if they do.
