For nearly a decade, the Boeing 727 once owned by Jeffrey Epstein has lain motionless on an outdoor slab in Brunswick, Georgia: its once-polished fuselage covered in dirt, its engines removed and its interior frozen in a kind of eerie time capsule.Dubbed the “Lolita Express” by the press, a nickname not used in official aviation records but widely associated with the aircraft in court documents and media coverage, the 133-foot plane was described by federal prosecutors as a vehicle used to transport young victims between Epstein’s properties. Flight logs placed a number of high-profile passengers on board over the years, from former US President Bill Clinton to the now-disgraced former British Prince Andrew. And, according to a rare onboard visit by a New York Post reporter, the interior remains eerily intact, decomposing in slow motion in the Georgia humidity.
A jet built for power and privacy
The nearly 60-year-old Boeing 727 was acquired in January 2001 by JEGE Inc., a Delaware-based company linked to Epstein and named in a lawsuit. Aviation records show Epstein held the property for nearly two decades. The plane’s tail number, N908JE, the last two letters widely understood to refer to its initials, appeared on the fuselage and on monogrammed elements inside the cockpit. Napkins with “N909JE,” the tail number of another plane linked to Epstein, were reportedly discovered in other bathroom cabinets.
Epstein owned the plane for nearly 20 years when he quietly sold it in December 2018, just months before his arrest and subsequent suicide, according to the story/caption image of the plane: New York Post.
The plane’s last recorded flight took place on July 11, 2016, traveling from Palm Beach International Airport to Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. Shortly afterward, its three engines were dismantled and sold. Without engines and with the registration expired since 2019, it can no longer fly legally or mechanically. In December 2018, months before his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, Epstein quietly sold the plane to World Aviation Services LLC, a Florida-based company, according to historical title records. The company’s owner later told reporters that the plane had initially been purchased with the intention of selling it or salvaging parts. Upon learning of its connection to Epstein’s crimes, the owner decided to dismantle it. In July 2024, the plane reportedly changed hands again and was purchased by Jet Assets Incorporated, a company based in Laramie, Wyoming, about which little public information is available. People associated with the company have not made public comments. Despite initial plans for demolition, the plane has remained intact at Stambaugh Aviation, racking up approximately $1,000 a month in storage fees, tens of thousands of dollars over the years.
The remnant of the cockpit/ Image: NY Post
“It’s in a significantly degraded condition, it’s sat there for 10 years, it has no engines…any airplane in that degraded of a condition would never fly again,” Scott Stambaugh, who owns the aviation facility, told the New York Post, describing any attempt at restoration as “monumental” and prohibitively expensive. From the outside, the once-pristine white body is now streaked dark grey, weathered by southern humidity. The aircraft is parked between planes formerly owned by actor John Travolta and fashion executive Peter Nygard, an uncomfortable proximity given the controversies attached to both men.
A decaying interior frozen in time
Entering via the rear staircase, reportedly left open, visitors are met with what one New York Post reporter described as a “nose-curdling musty stench”, intensified by near-total darkness. The aircraft has been without power since 2016. Inside, the jet’s layout remains visible: a bedroom, three separate sitting areas, two bathrooms and a galley kitchen. The finishes, polished wood, high-pile carpeting, mirrored walls and upholstered seating, were once designed to evoke exclusivity. Today, insects and mildew coat much of the interior. In the main bathroom, reporters found Johnson’s-brand baby lotion and baby powder tucked into cabinets, alongside toiletries, monogrammed napkins and paper towels marked with the aircraft’s tail number. Mouldy shaving cream cans, used toothbrushes and orange-and-yellow hair ties lay scattered among dirty towels.
Image: Youtube NY Post
In the lone bedroom, where victims including Virginia Giuffre have alleged abuse took place, a king-sized mattress remained neatly made beneath a white comforter. Three emergency oxygen masks dangled overhead. Nearby, a nightstand drawer contained what was described as a disassembled satellite phone. In the cockpit, a black landline handset with its cord ripped from the wall had been shoved into a drawer. A yellow emergency beacon labelled “N908JE” sat with expired registration papers.
Image: NY Post
Other remnants include stacked black-and-white linen placemats in the galley, empty water bottles, an instant coffee tin, binders filled with flight manuals and aviation documents, and closets still stocked with books and files. The décor in parts of the cabin is striking. One sitting room is upholstered almost entirely in red crushed velvet, covering walls, couch and armchairs, punctuated by a single contrasting chair and red table. Another lounge area features two grey half-moon couches facing one another before the galley. A final seating space near the cockpit includes mirrored walls, plush benches and a long wooden table. The jet once ferried politicians, business figures and celebrities. Old photographs show Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell aboard; another widely circulated image shows Clinton seated in one of the red chairs with an unidentified woman on his lap. None of those images have been tied to proven criminal conduct by the individuals pictured.
Bill Clinton flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s jet for Clinton Foundation trips, later saying he knew nothing of crimes./ Image: DOJ
Prosecutors, however, have stated in court filings that Epstein used the aircraft to transport victims between properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico and his private island in the US Virgin Islands.
A wider investigation and lingering questions
Epstein died in federal custody in August 2019, officially ruled a suicide by hanging. His associate Ghislaine Maxwell was later convicted of sex trafficking offences and is serving a prison sentence. The aircraft remains a physical artefact of that network. In the United Kingdom, Essex Police have said they are reviewing information emerging from released case files suggesting that Epstein arranged private flights into and out of Stansted Airport, allegedly to transport girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown wrote in the New Statesman that documents showed the jet made 90 flights to or from UK airports, including 15 after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Brown also claimed Epstein “boasted” about low airport charges at Stansted and described it as a transfer point between aircraft.
Essex Police confirmed they are assessing “information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport.” Meanwhile, the aircraft itself remains grounded, both physically and symbolically. At Stambaugh Aviation, the owner has said the jet was originally slated to be “cut up” and scrapped. Those plans never materialised. Instead, the 727 sits exposed to heat, humidity and corrosion, its once-luxurious interior collapsing into decay.