A method and system in an airborne aircraft to evade a heat seeking missile includes the steps of detecting the launch or "lock on" of a heat seeking missile and reducing the radiation from the aircraft's engine by reducing the engine speed to idle. The method may also include the steps of shutting down and restarting an engine and taking countermeasures to distract the missile or distorting its tracking system. In addition, a method and system for automatically shutting down an engine and/or injecting cooling water into the engine's exhaust port are disclosed.