How does a wet cloth really help (scientifically) to survive an airplane crash?

Ann Marie Brest wrote:
On Fri, 16 May 2014 05:19:33 +0200, nestork wrote:

I agree with BobF; the wet cloth acts like a filter for both smoke
particles and fumes that would be soluble in water.

Until I read the referenced articles, I would also have believed that
filtering the smoke itself might have been a key safety issue.

But, we don't have any proof yet that smoke particles are anything
we care about from an inhalation standpoint during a cabin fire.

A friend of mine was hospitalized for smole inhalation. They would come in
regularly and pound the hell out of his chest to break loose the crud in his
lungs so the body could try to eliminate it. Inhaled particulate matter can
without a doubt do significant damage.