ActionScript 3.0 :: Call JavaScript From AIR?

I'm having a hell of a time trying to call JavaScript from an AIR application. Here's what I'm trying to do:

1. Load an HTML page using HTMLLoader.

2. Access a link by its ID in the HTMLLoader object and simulate the JavaScript click() function on that link.

Here's the JavaScript function in the loaded HTML page (it simply submits a form on the page):

Code:
function submitAssistantForm(direction)
{
document.theForm.direction.value=direction;
document.theForm.submit();
return;
}

And here's the ActionScript code I'm trying:

Code:
var html:HTMLLoader = new HTMLLoader();
html.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, splash);
html.load(new URLRequest("...URL omitted..."));

[code]....

By the way, if I add the HTMLLoader object to the stage and manually click the link with my mouse, everything works perfectly. So I have to believe it's possible to programmatically send a click event to the link.