Click here for the latest on the Jeffrey Epstein documents release.
(NewsNation) — At the height of its notoriety, Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet the “Lolita Express,” flew Epstein and his VIP friends, often with a bevy of underage girls to keep them company in sordid and illegal ways.
Now, the plane that has been grounded since 2016 sits rotting, rusting and partially dismantled on a tarmac in coastal Georgia, set to be scrapped.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, which got exclusive photos from inside the plane.
Christopher Oquendo, the photographer who boarded the plane to snap the photos, said Friday on “Banfield” that it was an “overwhelming” experience.
“It felt oppressive, knowing the things that had happened on that plane,” Oquendo said. “It weighed heavy on me as I was taking those photographs.”
The jet is set to be torn apart and scrapped, the Daily Mail reported, after the Boeing 727 has built up thousands in storage fees. It was bought in 2020 by Florida-based World Aviation Services, according to the Mail, with the hopes of turning a profit or using the parts for other cargo planes in the company’s fleet.
The jet transported the likes of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince Andrew and actor Kevin Spacey, according to flight logs.
All of those names surfaced this week in previously secret court documents that are being unsealed as part of a civil lawsuit brought by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre. She sued Epstein’s alleged accomplish British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a separate criminal trial in 2022 on sex trafficking charges.
Giuffre alleged that Epstein would use the jet to bring sex traffic victims to his homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico, among other places.
“I definitely felt like I was walking through a crime scene, and everywhere I I looked, the bed, the kitchen, the chairs, the lounge areas, I can only imagine the conversations that were had, the people that were on that plane, some of the things that might have happened on that plane. It definitely weighed on me,” Oquendo said. “But I tried to document the plane as best I could and just try to show it, so that way people could see it and get a sense of what it was like to be on that plane.”
The plane is still furnished with a red couch, executive table and chairs, a bed stocked with linens and cabinets with toilet paper, water bottles and instant coffee, according to the Mail. A bottle of baby lotion was found in one cabinet.
The plane itself is run down, rusted and generally decrepit looking. Mold covers the walls in the bathroom.
“All the furniture and the interior design style of that plane was heavy and oppressive, and I think it was probably meant to overwhelm the people that were on that plane because it doesn’t feel very comforting,” Oquendo said. “You almost feel like you’re trapped on that plane.”
