An injured survivor is transferred to San Francisco General Hospital. Chen gang / Xinhua

Passenger Xu Ruonan sent her mother a text message on Saturday. The 16-year-old said she had arrived safely in San Francisco, but didn't mention that she had survived an air crash.

Chen Aiwu, her mother, said on Sunday that she learned about the crash from the television news and quickly contacted her daughter, who was part of a group of 30 students and six teachers from Jiangshan High School in Quzhou, Zhejiang province.

"She told me she was seated in the middle of the aircraft and passengers were evacuated in an orderly fashion," said Chen, who was relieved to discover that her daughter's injuries were slight, mainly minor bruising, and that she was helping to take care of injured classmates at a hospital.

"She said her mobile phone had run out of power, as had those of many of her schoolmates, but their chargers were burned along with their other belongings in the luggage hold," she said.

Chen said she was relieved to hear that her daughter was safe and urged her to take care of herself and comply with the teachers' requests.

"She sounded very calm on the phone," she said. "My girl travels a lot and she doesn't panic in emergencies."

A couple embrace as they watch a news conference with airport and city officials at San Francisco International Airport. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / AFP