Access time line from externally loaded swf

Hi all:
I am using CS3 with AS3. I have a dropdown menu that I have loaded into an empty movieclip in my main swf. What code do I need to use in order to access the labels on the main swf timeline from my menu or open and close external swf.
Code to load menu.
var menuLoader = new Loader();
menuLoader.load(new URLRequest(‘components/Drop_Down_Menu.swf’));
dropMenu.addChild(menuLoader);

code in menu
function main1Click(event:MouseEvent):void {
this.parent.gotoAndPlay(“home”); // causes errors
}
mainBtn1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, main1Click);

Thank you