What Epstein's Pilot Revealed About the Lolita Express

For 25 years, Larry Visoski sat in the cockpit of Jeffrey Epstein's private aircraft, flying the financier and his guests between Palm Beach, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands, New Mexico, Paris, and dozens of other destinations. As Epstein's chief pilot from the early 1990s until Epstein's arrest in 2019, Visoski had a front-row seat to the comings and goings of some of the world's most powerful people. His testimony — first in depositions and then at Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal trial in December 2021 — provided one of the most detailed insider accounts of Epstein's operation.

Testimony at the Maxwell Trial

Visoski was the first witness called by prosecutors in the Maxwell trial. He testified that he flew Epstein's Boeing 727 — dubbed the 'Lolita Express' by the media — as well as smaller aircraft including a Gulfstream and a Cessna Citation. He confirmed seeing prominent figures aboard the aircraft, including Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and numerous other high-profile individuals. However, Visoski was careful to note that the cockpit door was typically closed during flights and that he did not personally witness sexual activity on the aircraft.

When asked about young women on the flights, Visoski acknowledged that he saw females who appeared young traveling with Epstein, but testified that he assumed they were the children of Epstein's guests or employees. Defense attorneys pressed Visoski on whether he had ever seen anything inappropriate, and he maintained that he had not — a position that prosecutors did not seriously challenge, as their case against Maxwell focused on conduct that occurred at Epstein's residences rather than in-flight.

What the Flight Logs Do and Don't Show

Visoski's testimony helped contextualize the flight logs that have become one of the most scrutinized pieces of evidence in the case. He explained that maintaining passenger manifests was primarily his responsibility and that the logs were not always complete. Passengers were sometimes listed by first name only, by nickname, or not at all. Epstein occasionally instructed the pilots not to record certain passengers, though Visoski was careful not to speculate about the reasons for these omissions.

The flight logs are the most complete record we have of who traveled with Epstein — but the pilot himself told us they were incomplete. Every blank space in those logs represents a person whose presence someone wanted hidden.

Visoski's Unique Position

As an employee who worked for Epstein for a quarter century, Visoski occupied an unusual position in the case — he was neither a victim, an alleged co-conspirator, nor a powerful associate. He was a working professional who, by his own account, simply did his job flying aircraft. His testimony was notable for its restraint: he provided factual information about routes, passengers, and aircraft operations while carefully avoiding speculation about Epstein's criminal activities. Whether this restraint reflected genuine ignorance or careful self-preservation remains a matter of debate.

The 2026 document releases have supplemented Visoski's testimony with additional flight records, fuel receipts, and airport records that provide a more complete picture of Epstein's air travel than was previously available. These records have confirmed some passenger names that were previously redacted and have identified previously unknown flight routes that expanded the geographic scope of Epstein's operation beyond what was known during the Maxwell trial.