French Transport Minister Dominique Perben said Thursday that French technicians will help Venezuelan authorities analyze the black boxes of the McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 which crashed in northwestern Venezuela on Tuesday.
The black boxes "will be analyzed in Venezuela, but in the presence and with the collaboration of our technicians and engineers from the French Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) and the French Civil Aviation Authority," the French minister told RTL radio in Paris.
"We should be able to work out technically what was the origin of the crash and then we will be able to go further and tell the families what happened," Perben said.
The French justice ministry announced that the state prosecutor on French Caribbean island of Martinique was to open a homicide investigation into the crash.
Two investigating judges are expected to be appointed to handle the inquiry, which will also help gain access to information in Venezuela and Colombia for the families of the passengers, officials said.
A US-made McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 crashed Tuesday in northwestern Venezuela, killing all on board, -- the eight-person Colombian crew and the 152 passengers who had been flying home to Martinique after a week-long vacation in Panama.
The French government has sent several officials to Venezuela to help identify the victims and to investigate the cause of the crash. Officials from Colombia and the United States are also participating in the inquiry.