Lin posted a picture of the returning students around a cake holding balloons on Tencent Weibo, a micro-blogging platform, on July 9, to show their families they were safe and well in the US.

Some students showed signs of trauma in San Francisco and were scared to even take elevators, said Ye Lianjun, a teacher who was with the students.

Psychologists said counseling is necessary for the survivors to soothe their fears.

"Instead of deliberately making them dodge memorial events of the deceased classmates, they should be encouraged to inspire each other as they walked out of the catastrophe and need to have confidence in a bright future," said Sang Biao, a professor of psychology at East China Normal University.

The school should arrange team games for them to experience mutual encouragement and trust for better recovery, Sang said, which can be extended to all teachers and students at the school affected by the accident.

Psychological counselors visited with the students in Beijing and said they are fine but need to be monitored for the next six months.

Meanwhile, Asiana Airlines said on Sunday its reputation was damaged by a report on a San Francisco TV station that used bogus and racially offensive names for four pilots on its plane, and the Korean airline is considering legal action.

Zhao Yanrong in Beijing contributed to this story.