Discontinued Operations - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($)			3 Months Ended					6 Months Ended
	Jul. 20, 2015	Jun. 05, 2015	Apr. 01, 2016	Jan. 01, 2016	May. 01, 2015	Mar. 27, 2015		Apr. 01, 2016	May. 01, 2015	Mar. 27, 2015		Oct. 02, 2015
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax			$ (2,023,000)		$ (14,600,000)	$ (14,600,000)	[1]	$ (6,803,000)	$ (20,500,000)	$ (20,476,000)	[1]
Loss on net assets held for sale			1,055,000			14,447,000		3,572,000		14,447,000	[1]
Environmental Exit Costs, Assets Previously Disposed, Liability for Remediation			800,000					800,000				$ 1,600,000
Previously Sold Business
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax									(1,100,000)
Environmental Exit Costs, Assets Previously Disposed, Liability for Remediation					$ 1,700,000				$ 1,700,000
Advanced Materials
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax			(2,664,000)			(3,816,000)		(7,768,000)		(9,145,000)
Loss on net assets held for sale			$ 1,381,000	$ 2,200,000		$ 3,008,000		$ 3,628,000		$ 3,008,000
Eclipse
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of discontinued operation		$ 7,900,000
Eclipse | Maximum
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Indemnification for certain representations and warranty obligations	$ 2,800,000
PA&E
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of discontinued operation	23,400,000
Escrow deposits related to property sales	1,100,000
PA&E | Maximum
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Indemnification for certain representations and warranty obligations	$ 3,900,000

[1] (Recast)