Intentionally Shut Down Motor(s) In Flight?

Is it possible to deliberately shut down one or more motors as a part of autonomous flight? My understanding of how this is usually done with gliders and the like is through the throttle command - but suppose I have an aircraft with 3 motors (required for takeoff and flight with payload) - is it possible to shut a motor down based on airspeed, or with a waypoint command, for example?