Midway through American Airlines flight 1544s journey from San Francisco to Dallas Monday, pilot Mark Dams asked passengers to please remain seated and fasten their seat belts for a minute while he tries something real quick. Attention passengers, bear with me for a moment; I just want to try a little something here, Dams announced over the planes intercom, adding that he heard about another pilot doing this once and wants to see if it actually works. Should only take a few seconds. I just want to see what happens. At press time, Dams reportedly took a breath and muttered to himself, Okay, here goes. 