Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Sep. 28, 2018		Jun. 29, 2018		Mar. 30, 2018		Dec. 29, 2017		Sep. 29, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 30, 2016	Sep. 28, 2018		Sep. 29, 2017		Sep. 30, 2016
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Net Sales	$ 535,294		$ 499,871		$ 517,629		$ 482,045		$ 528,650	$ 504,107	$ 509,131	$ 458,416	$ 2,034,839	[1]	$ 2,000,304	[1]	$ 1,993,453	[1]
Cost of Sales	350,969		329,951		353,902		333,709		362,422	330,408	331,925	315,504	1,368,531		1,340,259		1,331,573
Gross Profit	184,325		169,920		163,727		148,336		166,228	173,699	177,206	142,912	666,308		660,045		661,880
Selling, general & administrative	89,225		97,878		101,242		98,886		88,332	93,615	97,924	95,110	387,231		374,981		396,548
Research, development and engineering	17,472		22,830		24,725		25,842		28,841	30,190	29,041	21,706	90,869		109,778		99,710
Operating Earnings from Continuing Operations	73,730		48,292		33,924		26,633		49,055	49,894	55,430	28,696	182,579		183,075		165,749
Income Tax Expense	16,865	[2]	11,094	[2]	2,079	[2]	53,789	[2]	9,705	10,703	13,080	(463)	83,827	[2]	33,025		21,857
Earnings from Continuing Operations	49,937		29,717		23,954		(34,815)		31,533	31,764	34,440	21,128	68,793		118,865		113,219
Earnings (Loss) from Discontinued Operations	2,802		(1,894)		(77)		(166)		(1,126)	(815)	(34)	(5,336)	665		(7,311)		(15,266)
Net Earnings Attributable to Esterline	$ 52,739		$ 27,823		$ 23,877		$ (34,981)		$ 30,407	$ 30,949	$ 34,406	$ 15,792	$ 69,458		$ 111,554		$ 97,953
Earnings (Loss) Per Share Attributable to Esterline - Basic:
Continuing operations	$ 1.69		$ 1.01		$ 0.81		$ (1.16)		$ 1.05	$ 1.07	$ 1.16	$ 0.71	$ 2.33		$ 4.00		$ 3.84
Discontinued operations	0.10		(0.06)		0		(0.01)		(0.04)	(0.03)	0	(0.18)	0.02		(0.25)		(0.52)
Earnings Per Share	1.79		0.95		0.81		(1.17)		1.01	1.04	1.16	0.53	2.35		3.75		3.32
Earnings (Loss) Per Share Attributable to Esterline - Diluted:
Continuing operations	1.69		1.00		0.80		(1.16)		1.05	1.06	1.15	0.71	2.32		3.96		3.80
Discontinued operations	0.09		(0.06)		0		(0.01)		(0.04)	(0.03)	0	(0.18)	0.02		(0.24)		(0.51)
Earnings Per Share	$ 1.78		$ 0.94		$ 0.80		$ (1.17)		$ 1.01	$ 1.03	$ 1.15	$ 0.53	$ 2.34		$ 3.72		$ 3.29

[1] Based on country from which the sale originated and the sale was recorded.

[2] Includes the impact of the Act mainly in the first and fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.