Who were the frequent passengers and staff on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet and what was their role?
Executive summary
Flight manifests and multiple public records show Jeffrey Epstein’s jets carried hundreds of high‑profile passengers over decades, including Bill Clinton (around 26–27 flights listed), Donald Trump (multiple flights reported), Naomi Campbell, Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz and Ghislaine Maxwell — the latter was one of the most frequent non‑Epstein passengers [1] [2] [3]. Pilots and official logs provide names and trip counts but do not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing by listed adults; several pilots testified they saw no sex acts aboard the plane [1] [4].
1. Who rode the ‘Lolita Express’: a who’s who from public flight logs
Court‑unsealed flight manifests, FAA records and investigative compilations list thousands of trips and name dozens of well‑known figures as passengers: former president Bill Clinton (documented on roughly two dozen flights in Business Insider’s compilation), Donald Trump (appears multiple times in logs reported by news outlets), socialites and celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, and public officials including Larry Summers and Alan Dershowitz [1] [2] [5]. The manifests also record frequent travel by Epstein himself (over 1,000 logged appearances) and by Ghislaine Maxwell, who appears more often than almost any other associate [1] [3].
2. Staff and crew listed on the manifests: pilots, employees, and ‘masseuses’
Pilots who flew Epstein’s jets for decades — notably Lawrence Visoski Jr. — appear repeatedly in the logs and testified about routine duties and what they observed on flights; Visoski said he did not observe sexual activity aboard the planes [4]. Other onboard staff, per reporting and court material, included attendants and people listed in a so‑called “masseuse list” released in some documents; court files and reporting say an employee sometimes ensured “minor victims were available” for encounters, a detail cited in indictments and news reports [6] [7].
3. What the presence on a manifest does — and does not — prove
Flight logs and passenger lists show who travelled with Epstein but do not alone prove conduct or criminality; multiple outlets stress that being named in a manifest is not a legal finding of guilt [1] [8]. Some high‑profile passengers and their representatives have insisted trips were social or work‑related — for example, Clinton’s team said foundation staff and supporters accompanied him on charity flights — while others denied or downplayed relationships with Epstein [8] [1].
4. Victim testimony and allegations linking flights to trafficking
Victim accounts and indictments assert Epstein used his jets to move victims between locations and that some flights were part of a sex‑trafficking pattern; Virginia Giuffre’s civil suits and other reporting describe alleged abuse occurring on jets and at residences [6]. Court filings and trial testimony have referenced the plane as one setting among several where abuse was alleged [6].
5. Records expanded over time — why names and gaps persist
New document releases, including FAA inadvertent disclosures and materials unsealed in civil and criminal proceedings, have periodically expanded the known set of flights and passengers: Business Insider’s database combined court manifests and FAA signal records to document 2,618 flights between 1995 and 2019, and later releases (including thousands of pages given to Congress) added further context [1] [9] [10]. Gaps remain: some FAA records lacked passenger names, and many files in estates and agencies have been redacted or remain sealed until ordered released [10] [9].
6. Competing narratives and the politics of disclosure
Political actors and media outlets present sharply different framings. Oversight Democrats emphasized emails and files they say indicate influential people knew more than they admitted; other coverage underscores that names on logs are not proof of criminal conduct and highlights pilot testimony denying observed misconduct onboard [9] [4]. Recent legislative and executive actions to release more Epstein files have intensified scrutiny and partisan dispute over motive and bombshell potential [11] [9].
7. Limitations in the public record and outstanding questions
Available sources document passenger names, flight counts and some pilot testimony, but do not answer whether specific named passengers participated in or were aware of crimes on particular flights — that level of evidentiary linkage is absent or disputed in current reporting [1] [4]. Many documents remain redacted or newly released materials are still being reviewed by investigators and Congress [9]. Available sources do not mention definitive proof tying the majority of listed adults to criminal acts aboard specific flights.
Sources cited: Business Insider (flight database) [1]; Wikipedia summary of passengers [2]; The Cut on indictment and use of plane [6]; FAA and Customs/CBP records reporting [7] [10]; Pilot testimony reporting [4]; House Oversight press materials and email releases [9]; BBC and other outlets summarizing court files [8]; aggregated passenger statistics [3].