Discontinued Operations - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Thousands, £ in Millions						1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Mar. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 30, 2018 GBP (£)	Mar. 15, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 28, 2017 USD ($)	May 04, 2016 GBP (£)	Dec. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2017 GBP (£)	Mar. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Income Statement Balance Sheet And Additional Disclosures By Disposal Groups Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of discontinued operation			$ 50,000								$ 47,814	$ 600
Gain on sale of discontinued operation										$ 1,188	0	1,188
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax								$ (77)	$ (34)	(34)	(243)	(5,370)
Loss on net assets held for sale								$ 1,306		$ 319	$ 1,395	(4,409)
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	$ 6,700	£ 4.8
Deferred consideration earned						$ 1,800	£ 1.3
Loss on net assets held for sale												$ 4,300
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%