Discontinued Operations - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Thousands, £ in Millions					1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2017 GBP (£)	Mar. 28, 2017 USD ($)	May 04, 2016 GBP (£)	Dec. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2017 GBP (£)	Dec. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2016 USD ($)
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							$ (166)	$ (5,336)
Wallop
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of discontinued operation | £				£ 2.5
Deferred consideration payments term				3 years
Deferred consideration payment date				May 03, 2019
Payments for earn out	$ 5,500	£ 4.1
Deferred consideration earned					$ 1,800	£ 1.3
Wallop | Maximum
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Deferred consideration payments | £				£ 9.0
Indemnity obligations losses for buyer | £				£ 5.0
Deferred consideration payable acceptable orders percentage				31.00%
Wallop | Minimum
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Deferred consideration payable acceptable orders percentage				26.50%
Small Manufacturing Business
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of discontinued operation			$ 600
Discontinued operation, note receivable			2,400
Gain on sale of discontinued operation			$ 800
Discontinued operation, note receivable due date			Mar. 28, 2021
Discontinued operation ,note receivable interest rate			2.05%